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 coordinator. Though I never got to meet her, the impact that her life had on all of the Heron elders was monumental. Just as Alicia had requested, the Heron family held a candlelight vigil to light up the hill on Saturday night.
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by Nick Smarto | Apr 23, 2013 | Europe, HDR, Photography, Videos
I was elected by my company to represent our product at Hannovermesse in Hannover, Germany. Siemens and other industrial companies participate in fairs like Hannovermesse to promote their products, their services, and their company values to prospective customers. Since I’ve been begging my management for the chance to travel to Germany (a primary reason for me to work at Siemens), they finally heard my calls and sent me on a trip full of hard work and hard play.
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by Nick Smarto | Jun 21, 2010 | Europe, Food and Brews, HDR, Photography, Travel
Valerie heard from a website about West End Live 2010, so we thought we’d take a jaunt down to Leicester (pronounced “lester”) Sqaure to check it out.
The West End Live show happens in an area of London that houses most of the major theaters and shows, and highlights some favorite songs from almost every show playing. It’s a bit of a preview for all the shows, and every act gets about 15 minutes. Wicked, Lion King, Hair, etc, all show up and drop a few songs. This is all for free.
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by Nick Smarto | Jun 17, 2010 | Europe, Food and Brews, HDR, Photography, Travel
Thursday was a voyage to London’s east end. The main goal of the day was to get to the Borough Market, but we stopped at a few places on our way to and from the market – like the St. Paul’s Cathedral, pictured above.
In the morning, we crossed a bridge and looked east to the Tower Bridge, knowing we’d eventually end up there. We stopped in at the Tate Modern museum next.
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by Nick Smarto | Jun 17, 2010 | Europe, HDR, Photography, Travel
Wednesday, our only goal was to have martinis at a martini bar Valerie recommended, the Dirty Martini. But, we were in no rush to get there before happy hour, so started out Wednesday with a jaunt to King’s Cross station. It’s one of the primary hubs of public transportation in London, with access to the subway system, trains across the country, airport services, taxis and busses.
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by Nick Smarto | May 24, 2010 | HDR, Photography
Sunday was too nice to stay inside, so I took Lumen out for a stroll around the Bushy Run Battlefield. I took the Nikon out just in case, and grabbed this pretty cool HDR of the sunlit sky.
As always, Lumen was his rambunctious self.
Took some wildflower shots while I was out. Didn’t see anything terribly profound, but this shot came out alright.
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by Nick Smarto | May 9, 2010 | Experiences, HDR
As I was traveling through Bedford returning from a Mother’s Day family affair, I wound up at the Flight 93 National Memorial. I had been there before, but there seemed to be a special kind of reverence here on Mother’s Day. Despite the frigid cold and windy day, I got the camera out to snap some photos:
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