Black in a time of colour

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Canberra’s Enlighten festival is nearly finished, and you’ll find plenty of brightly coloured photos scattered across the internet.  I wanted to provide something different.  Perhaps some shots of the morning after.

Alas, as I got closer to the festival site, it was evident that colour still abounded.  Many brightly clothed families were crossing the road, after filling up every parking space with shiny bright cars.  And there it was, peeping over the top of the trees …. a hot air balloon.

It’s the 8th.  I’d forgotten the balloons started today.

Resigned to my fate, I parked out the back of Old Parliament House and wandered across with camera in hand.  I resisted, or resented, the throng of other camera-toters and choose instead to mill around on the other side of the road, not quite sulking but not quite sure how to embrace the sight before me.  A bucanneering pirate bird complete with cutlass and one supposedly wooden leg?  And a soccer ball?

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I’m reluctant to take pretty pictures for the sake of having a pretty picture.  I did that for years.  I’m getting old now and crave something meatier in return for my investment.  Time seems more expensive now than it used to.

There it was.  A black balloon.

Jackpot.

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But it is a family festival, not a goth revival, so no surprises when big cartoon eyes spun into view.

Gotta Smile.

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Speaking of smiles, check out my view of the Skywhale when she was launched for the Canberra Festival last year.