Paraty Harbor

Today we traveled up the coast 100 km to the seaside town of Paraty. There were amazing picture perfect beach photos around every turn of the seaside highway. It is strange that no one talks about the beaches and beach communities between Rio De Janeiro and Sao Paulo, the coast is littered beautiful beaches and charming communities, each beach more spectacular than the last.

Founded in the early 1500s, Paraty was an important port during Brazil's golden century (the 1700s), shipping gold that was flowing from the interior to Portugal. The colonial era buildings have survived virtually untouched since that time and the area is now closed to cars, further maintaining the quaint charm of this amazing place.

Photographic opportunities abound around every corner, with colorful buildings flanking narrow, cobble-stoned streets. I chose, however, to focus on the harbor-side church because it allowed me to feature both boats and water, two of my favorite subjects. I would have preferred a better sky, but I thought the lighting throughout the rest of the image area was perfect to reflect the peaceful feeling of the harbor.