Born in Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais State - quite a long time ago - only in 1996 I became more intensely devoted to photography. Actually, I am not so sure I mean it to be more intensely when I refer to a hobby, or to something that has become my favorite pastime. However, this is something to which I dedicate attention and some serious work and from where I obtain lots of pleasure, peace of spirit, a chance to breathe pure air, an that's when I find myself free from the daily stress and pollution.      I began to photograph when I definitively gave up my filming equipment due to the painful task of trying to obtain high quality images from it. To videotape with a small video camera is not more than just being able to record parties and special moments such as trips and walkarounds without being concerned about the outcome. That can only be done with an expensive press-type professional equipment, besides a demand for professional images' editing workload.      A photographic camera acts in a different way. Any good reason is enough to shoot. A little of the photographer's sensibility, some help from the developing laboratory, and we will obtain an excellent quality pattern. Or we'll be very close to it! Miniature automatic cameras are capable of processing great pictures.      All the pictures presented in this album were obtained with Pentax cameras, lens Sigma and Vivitar and macro lens.      The pictures that I shoot are the true expression of nature. There is neither cheating nor artificial backgrounds. The lighting is also natural and there is no use of flashes or any other resource that would alter the natural light.      In some cases, a computer and a good images processing program, such as the Adobe Photoshop, will work as excellent accessories to correct minor imperfections of the pictures and enhance the beauty of nature, something which the photographic equipment will never be able to completely disclose.      Most of the pictures display plants and flowers found in the Brazilian undersized vegetation known as "cerrado", which at first seems to be unpleasant for its distorted trees and its, at first sight, poor colors. However, the "cerrado" reveals an impressive beauty and, at the same time, delicate and plain details of its plants and especially of its flowers, full of colors and shapes never seen in other areas. Ricardo Monteiro