by Nick Smarto | May 29, 2014 | Photography, The Great Outdoors |
Summer is here, and after what turned out to be one of the longest and coldest winters of my life, I was anxious to get some outside time. I was able to pack kayaking, quad-riding, off-roading, and frisbee all in to a weekend. After being on the road for the past...
by Nick Smarto | Aug 25, 2013 | The Great Outdoors |
You have to make time to get away every once in a while. We go to the Lone Pine at least once a summer for a weekend every year, and it’s a good opportunity to get the camera out. Typically a cabin trip consists of a wild party on Saturday evening, and a...
by Nick Smarto | Aug 1, 2013 | Great Blue Heron, Writing |
My eyes close, bathed in the pallid orange glow of sodium-vapor street lamps outside of my apartment. Strings of thought dissolve in to threads of memories, like nerves that can be plucked and awakened by my transient state as I begin to pass through the chasm in time...
by Nick Smarto | Jul 10, 2013 | Great Blue Heron, Photography |
Another great festival year came and went, and consistent with every prior year, it just keeps getting better and better. As usual, Nathan and I committed the entire week leading up to the festival to helping prepare for the flood of thousands of people. Our main...
by Nick Smarto | May 9, 2013 | Great Blue Heron, HDR, Photography, Videos |
I always look forward to the May Day celebrations at the Heron. It’s a great waypoint on the way to summer, as the snow thaws and the land turns green again. This year was a special year, as we celebrated the life of Alicia Passamonte, a past Heron volunteer...
by Nick Smarto | Apr 25, 2013 | Experiences, Videos |
Go ahead, feel free to accuse me of collecting too many odd hobbies… But in my defense, it’s pretty fun to (safely) blow things up. Last weekend, I participated in a training course provided by hometown pyro-gurus, Pyrotecnico of New Castle, PA. They offer...
by Nick Smarto | Mar 18, 2013 | Great Blue Heron, Videos |
Back when we were still assembling the yearly Great Blue Heron flyers by hand, we always threw a yearly party between winter and spring to get together and produce the mailer. Even though we now started outsourcing the mailer, we still get together around the same...
by Nick Smarto | Mar 17, 2013 | Great Blue Heron, Photography |
I got the invite to go hang out with my Blue Heron friends up in Canandaigua, and dropped in on their snowboarding event, the Sean Slayer Showdown. I really never tried a snowboard before, and it gave me some motivation to learn next year, but in the mean time, I shot...
by Nick Smarto | Jan 2, 2013 | Experiences, Family, Photography |
I always look forward to the holidays, but this year was especially anticipated because it was my first Christmas to come ‘home’ to after moving down to Pittsburgh. Keeping up with our annual family traditions, our family had our usual Christmas Eve...
by Nick Smarto | Dec 30, 2012 | Experiences |
Two thousand and twelve was a very dynamic year. Perhaps, this biggest year I’ve ever lived. I guess its only prudent to reflect on the mountains and valleys that the year brought and hopefully pick up a little wisdom. I cannot remember a year in my adult life...
