Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Black and White

I am happy to see that Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Black and White.

I have been playing around converting the photo below taken in Bostwana from color to B&W. The original photo was very interesting but I think the B&W is not in any way inferior.

I came across a blog post which suggests that we should not preset a camera to B&W when we want B&W photos; but rather do a post processing on it. His other advice includes taking it on a grey day when the light is soft and use the lowest ISO.

I have some slides which were taken 20+ years ago and they have become decolored.  Converting to B&W seem to be a good way of keeping the photos interesting.

The photo below was taken in 1985 at Brighton Beach. I have shown it before but I couldn’t help showing it again as a B&W in a collection.

Another photo taken in the same year is the Stlker castle in Scotland below. Like the other one, it become decolored and I think this is the best way of rescuing it.

The photo below of the pyramid in Cairo, Egypt was taken in year 2000. Again, it has become decolored. B&W gives this a different mood.

My picture of Istanbul, Turkey taken on a cruise when the sun was setting was almost monotonic, with a purple taint. The converted picture below seems only have changed the picture from pink to B&W.

Some of the pictures below are taken in more recent years. I can never forgot the difficult climb up the Wu Yi mountains, China when the sky was grey and misty. The photo below of mysterious mountain with a pavilion and tourists climbing up like (white) ants has implanted deeply in my mind.

The picture of West Lake, China below was taken last Winter. Post processing it to B&W does not make a big difference to the image as the picture was almost grey in  color when taken.

Back to the West. The picture below was taken in Dubrovnik, Croatia last May. It gives a different feel than the usual picture of red roofs to the houses.

Still on the same subject of Dubrovnik, the B&W picture below shows a close up version of the individual houses or structures in that picturesque area.

The picture of Trakai, Latvia has always been shown in color. The picture below is my attempt to show it in B&W, giving it a special character.

How can I forget the beautiful Langkawai, Malaysia with the sun just rising and a boat lying on the shore . . . . .

I like both colors and B&W. Although, in the real world, it would be nice if many controversial issues would just be in Black or White so people do not have to fight over various shades of grey. Maybe, I should set up an opinion poll to see whether you like Colors or B&W!