Picture of the day - March 3, 2008

"A cold day in Ottawa"

Photo courtesy of Alex Grygoryev. Yesterday's picture featured a summertime scene from a place that's known for its harsh winters, but today we're back to the cold of winter in another chilly place: Ottawa, Ontario. This beautiful picture by photographer Alex Grygoryev sure brings home the fact that winters in the "Great White North" can be pretty extreme, and I found Mr. Grygoryev's story behind the image rather interesting: "This picture was taken on Feb 29, 2008 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was a particularly cold and quiet morning: -20C (-5F). This section of the Ottawa river does not freeze as there are rapids and the water is turbulent. The steam raising from the water condensates and freezes on the trees the way you see it here. In general, it is not all that cold here. The average temperature for February is about -5C (20F). Only sometimes we see it drop to -30C (-20F), with the wind it could feel like -50C (-60F). However, this winter we had some unusual amounts of snowfall. We may beat a historical record this year. In places, the snow piles are taller than an adult man standing. I've heard, that in February it snowed 25 days out of 29. Sometimes, I wonder: why do people voluntarily live here? :) The picture was taken with Canon 40D and 17-40 F4 L @23mm, F/11; B&W post-processing."  --Alex Grygoryev   Click here to comment on this picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!                                 Place the "Picture of the Day" on your website, for free! Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"