My world in black and white

Back in November, a friend on Facebook asked me to participate in a five day challenge, publishing on facebook one black and white photograph each day for five days.  The rules allowed for the photographer to take a colour photo and change it to black and white, which is what I did.  The hardest part of the challenge was deciding which five photos to post.  I knew I'd have no problem finding five photos of dogs which would look great in black and white,  but decided to challenge myself at another level by deliberately choosing photos from different categories. As it happens, I ended up starting and finishing the challenge with dog ones, but diversifying for the second, third, and fourth photos.  These are the five I ended up posting:  

Day 1:  This was a photo I took for Bully Buddies rescue several ago. I call it "I'll be your Best Friend". 

I'll Be Your Best Friend
(c) Jean Ballard 2009

Day 2:  One of my favourite photography subjects, second only to dogs, is the elderly. In this photo, my friend Pearl is having a great laugh over some silliness we got up to.

Laughter is the best medicine
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

Day 3:  As one who avoids big cities like the plague, I seldom do urban photography, but I took this shot on a rare visit to downtown Vancouver BC last fall.

The Urban Jungle
(c) Jean Ballard 2014

Day 4:  Day four's contribution contrasts sharply with Day three's urban shot - a young First Nation's man spearfishing at Swallowfield, one of my favourite hiking spots near Crofton BC. 

Spearfisher at Swallowfield
(c) Jean Ballard 2010

Day 5: I had trouble deciding what to post for the last day of the challenge, but decided to return to the subject of dogs as I love how removing the colour from this photo makes it look like a pencil line drawing. It is my favourite of the black and whites I'd selected for this challenge: 

Little Dog with Big Bark
(c) Jean Ballard 2013

I thought of this challenge again today when I looked at some photos I took on this morning's walk with Shiloh.  It was just after daybreak on a somewhat foggy morn.  I took the photos in colour, but when I downloaded them to the computer, I realized this morning's world was actually black and white - no photo editing required:  

Osborne Bay on a Foggy Morn
(c) Jean Ballard 2015

I do enjoy black and white photographs, but prefer my real world to have more colour.  Thankfully, as I opened the gate to my backyard, colour emerged - in the form of this little orange cat who has taken to visiting my garden a couple of times a day:  

The Visitor
(c) Jean Ballard 2015