Day 42 - Birthday Boy

Device: Nikon D3100

Lens:  18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal Length: 36mm

Aperture: f/5.0

Shutter Speed: 1/60 sec

ISO Sensitivity:400

SW: LR3

Location: São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais, Brasil

ok sorry for the delay but today was a very fast day and I was not home much. It was, my friend, Rodrigo’s birthday and the first day of pre-carnaval… so the drinking started early. So other friends and I went to his house to eat some churrasco and start the inebriation process. After there we went to the centro for the bloco, my first one, it was packed and hard to get around –but I was no longer sober so I did not care. We stayed there until about 8:30 and then took off. We headed towards Casterritas, which is not really the city’s name – apparently it’s a nickname, there we partied all night like a two in the morning it started raining – and guess who got soaked? Yep me, with so many people there I had nowhere to take refuge so I just got some pinga shots and beers and continued in the rain. Anyway, the next day I woke up naked and hungover… hahaha. It really isn’t as bad as it sounds.  I was not going to sleep in wet clothes and well the hang over is from like 12 hours of continuous drinking.

In the picture I tried to capture Rodrigo taking a very satisfying gulp of beer on a very hot day.

Day 28 - On Track

Device: Nikon D3100

Lens: 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6

Focal Length:18mm

Aperture: f/3.5

Shutter Speed1/1600 sec:

ISO Sensitivity:400

SW: LR3

Location: São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais, Brasil

I went to go visit Thiago today and to get to his house I simply followed the tracks for a good amount of the walk. As I was walking I was thinking, thinking of some of the good ole train idioms that we use; stay on track, chuggin’ along, runaway train, ride the gravy train, even train of thought.  The one I was most fixated on was "staying on track." Are we so adamant on having our entire future planned out that we leave no room for spontaneity? Do we forego adventure for security? Do we really go after what we want or do we simply let society dictate what we want? Maybe you want a house, a car, a good job. With all that you get put into the rat race, and once in it is nearly impossible to get out. I know where I want to be, but will I really stay on track or will I diverge as the days, weeks, and years pass on? How many of your plans actually got accomplished? Well I do know one thing for sure – I am the one laying the tracks for this train!

Day 27 - Reminiscing Raindrops

Device: Nikon D3100

Lens: VR 55-200mm F/4-5.6G

Focal Length: 200mm

Aperture: f/5.6

Shutter Speed: 1/3200 sec

ISO Sensitivity: 6400

SW: LR3

Location: São João del-Rei, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Rainy days are great, for me they take me back, back to those early days when rain would not stop us from wanting to go outside and play. It had the complete opposite effect for me, I wanted to run outside and jump in the puddles and just lay looking up at the sky and let the drops just splash on my face. Even when it was hailing outside, in Chicago, I remember running outside with all my sisters. We would collect hail stones and throw them at each other and even save some in the freezer… why? I do not know. Why do we do half the things we do when we are young, because it is fun and we can. I really love today’s picture for that reason. It takes me back to a better time; a time when wet clothes did not matter - ladies and gentlemen I give you Reminiscing Raindrops.