The good news: We've survived. And the even better news: We've got photos.

WINNER: Snow Flake

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

Nikon P510 with DCR-250 snap on macro lens. Snowflake caught on glass with LED backlight. f/4.9, ISO 100

- Jennifer Perdue

Times Square

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

I have the misfortune of working in Times Square, which may seem like fun, but most of the time it's just crowded. On Tuesday after work, however, it was mostly empty and buried in snow. I walked around a bit with my camera and came across this bike somewhere in the high 30s on 7th avenue. Clearly it hadn't been used in a little while, and looked like something abandoned and blasted with some fallout ash. Which pretty much summed up everything that entire evening. Fiddled with the exposure and such in Lightroom 5, which I love. Camera: Canon 5D Mark III 24-70mm L at 24mm, F/2.8
- Charlie Szymanski
Frosty

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

Frosted Window in my Brooklyn Apartment

- Eddie Burlem


Roundabout

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

I took these photos using my Canon t2i with a 50mm EF 1.8 lens. I took this at the roundabout at Columbus Circle en route to taking pics in Central Park. This turned out to be my favorite photo of the night.

- Steve Cooper

Ice Walk

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex
Well on January 6 of 2014 here in Port Washington, WI we had a balmy high of -16F. So now this is the coldest I've experienced in my life and got the great idea to head to the lake to take some pictures. Got dressed, warmed up the car and on the way there noticed that Lake Michigan was mostly frozen as far as I could see (lots of steam coming from the water as it was still roughly 34F in the water). The original plan was to take the 200-300 yard walk to the historic lighthouse, but as you can see from the picture that wasn't going to be too safe. Basically the entire walkway was layered with ice up to two feet thick all the way out and also covering any signs of the hand rails, so definitely not safe. I took plenty of shots but for this series I decided to submit this shot. Long story short, an hour after I got home, my toes were still frozen, still worth it. Photo taken with my new Nikon D7000; Exposure 1/200 sec., ISO-100, F-Stop f/6.3, WB set to daylight. Stay warm!

- Tony Stanisch
Frozen Flowers

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex
We live in Chicago. During One heavy snowstorm in December I noticed snow piling up on the dead flowers. in the front yard. I grabbed my Sony NEX-5N and a lens my father used in the 80s on his Minolta and took this picture from the comfort of my living room. Processed in Lightroom 5. Sony NEX-5N Soligor 85-205MM MACRO adapted to NEX 1/200s ISO 200 Developed in Lightroom 5
- Matt Faris
Street Light

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex
This year I decided I wanted to get more serious about photography because I love taking pictures, but it's just so easy NOT to! However, since you won't ever get better by just thinking about taking photos, I decided to challenge myself to take a picture I'm proud of every single day. We haven't gotten through a single month, and it's already much harder than I expected! But I'm learning so much, and that's really the whole point. I took this picture on January 2nd, as Baltimore got it's first snow of the new year. The snow started falling at dusk, but as it got darker and the street lights came on, I was hoping I could get a cool halo of snowfall in their light. This was my favorite from those shots, and I think I largely got what I was looking for. Nikon D3100, 35mm, f1.8, ISO 1600, 1/1600/sec with cropping and exposure adjustments in Lightroom.

- Curtis Thompson
Squirrel
14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex
Today I went for a walk in -13 degree weather and I stumbled across a squirrel who had succumbed to the elements. I couldn't resist honouring the dead by jamming the little guy's tail into a snowbank, thus resurrecting him into the frozen squirrel zombie you see before you now. Unfortunately the little kids getting off the school bus weren't half as horrified as I was hoping they'd be.
- Paul Kell
Green Ice

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

This is the ice which formed from dripping icicles onto retaining wall stones. The green particles inside the ice are most likely from a bush that stands just over the ice. This was taken with a Canon EOS 60D with an 18-200mm lens and 31mm macro extender. The settings were 1/30 shutter speed, F9, ISO 200. No image manipulation other than slight contrast adjustment.


- Paul Giachetti
Wetlands

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex
There's nothing quite as soothing as a walk through the winter wetlands after a dusting. Sony RX 100M2;ISO 160; f/2.8; 1/40th sec; with tweaks made in Photoshop and OnOne Perfect Effects.
- Costas Kitsos
Fountain Angel

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

This image was captured January 23, 2014 at the Bethesda Terrace in Central Park, NYC. The photo features an approximately 6 foot tall replica of the Bethesda Fountain angel, the remains of an ice carving festival held the previous Saturday. It was 17F in the park that afternoon, with wind chills approaching 0F.

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Olympus 45mm prime lens ƒ4.0 1/3200 sec 1250 ISO

I try to capture NYC with its guard down.


- Annette Gaudino
Rice Park

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

This weekend was the start of the St Paul Winter Carnival in Minnesota. On Saturday evening we got a beautiful snow fall. I thought this would be a wonderful time to go out for pictures, so at 12:30 am I packed up my camera and headed to downtown St. Paul.

This picture is taken at Rice Park, it sits across from the St. Paul public library. The statue is of Marcie reading a book on a park bench with Woodstock by her side.

ISO 1600 1/40 f/ 1.8 50mm lens Canon T3


- Summer Seeger
Icicle

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex
I used Canon T3i, Sigma Macro HSM lens and a flash diffuser to take this picture. This picture was taken in the Time-Value mode (TV). Since it was too cold to be outside, I tried to capture something awesome around the house and found this icicle hanging by the tree.
- Kathan Patel
Bamboo

14 Frozen Photos Of The Polar Vortex

The weight of the snow & Ice on the bamboo stalks along the side of my house was enough to bend them over the porch. Shot with my Canon EOS REBEL T2i at f/2.8

- Gretchen Hargrove

Great entries all around, and hopefully everyone has had a chance to thaw out by now. For the full-sized images, visit flickr.