Ottawa Daily Photo

Wednesday, July 1, 2026

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Water

The first day of each month is a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for July, that theme is water. Check out how others are interpreting the theme right here.

Twice a month I come out to the Portage Bridge, which crosses the Ottawa River between Gatineau on the left and Ottawa on the right. This is to document the view downstream through the changing seasons for a series of posts that turn up here twice a year. The river is a big one, more than 1200 kilometres in length from its headwaters in central Quebec to its confluence with the St. Lawrence River at Montreal. A good part of its length forms the border between Ontario and Quebec. At this bridge, landmarks include the Alexandra Bridge, Kiweki Point, the National Gallery, Parliament Hill, the Supreme Court, and Victoria Island.

This first shot was taken in the second half of January, on a cold day. The waters here do not freeze up in the winter, due to the currents caused by the Chaudiere Falls upstream.

This was taken on the last day of the month, a cold day with falling snow.

When I returned in early February, it was on a sunny day.

Coming back in the second half of the month, this was the view on a cold, mostly cloudy day.

I returned around mid-month in March. The ice downstream was breaking up.

By late month, most of the ice was going.

When I returned in the second half of April, the water was raging.

By month's end, more of the same. The Chaudiere Falls upstream from here was at full torrent.

The water was still turbulent at mid-month in May when I crossed the bridge over into Gatineau to photograph tulips.

When I returned in the last days of May, it was en route to the War Museum late in the afternoon.

I returned on an afternoon in the second half of June. There had been a downpour an hour or so prior. We've had a lot of this kind of days as of late- rain followed by clearing.

This last shot was taken two days ago to round out the month. I'll next have this series of seasonal shots in early January. Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians.