Detroit's Winter Blast

Ever since Detroit played host to Superbowl XL, the good people at Winter Blast (Jonathan Witz and Associates) have put on an incredible event in Campus Martius. Home to free ice skating and a snow slide, it's a great way to spend a cold weekend in Detroit. This past Sunday, I took a quick trip down and snapped a few shots.

Retouching on the sky to make the slide stand out.

Retouching (darkening) on the Buick signage to make it more stark in comparison to the snow slide

Compuware signage with the Compuware building in the background.

Kids enjoying the free ice-skating, sponsored by St. John Health.

Quicken Loans branded Zamboni.

Overall, I had a pleasant time, and got much more confident with photographing an event in a public place. Self-confidence is key to good photography in general, especially when you are doing a street event. Also, as for the close up on the snow slide and the moving of the work crew? It helps to know people, and it never hurts to ask nicely. 

Fire and Ice -- heavy on the Ice, it would seem

This weekend in Rochester, Michigan, the Fire and Ice Festival was held. They feature a lot of great events, and participating businesses have Ice Sculptures displayed on the sidewalk before their storefronts. I attended briefly to see part of a demonstration by Finesse Ice Sculptures out of Shelby Township, who actually create the sculptures for the event. Their work is featured throughout this post.

Tools of the trade.

Unfortunately, this is the extent of the "demonstration" for which I was able to stay. The ice blocks are made in one basic size, and have to be adhered/frozen together to make large sculptures. So, bascially, I was standing around waiting for ice to melt. I moved on.

Logging Truck

Starship Enterprise

Clear Submarine. Making it with yellow ice would have been weird.

The detail shot of the bicycle wheel shows you the level of detail these men put into their work. The spokes are of equal length, and that blows my mind.

Last one -- the Cruise Ship was great on its own, but the chalkboard flow-chart was the reason for the shot.