Photo of the Week #116
My favorite photo from this past week was taken at a track & field event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. I set my camera up on an Overxposed Mini Pro Plate a few feet behind the shot putters and used Pocketwizard transceivers to remotely blast away at 10 frames per second. I later sifted through the hundreds of photos and found this one of Adam Nelson, the Madison Square Garden all-time record holder in the shot put. Doesn’t it look like he’s dancing?
Photo tech specs: Canon 1D Mark IV camera, 16-35mm f2.8 II lens @ 16mm, f3.5, 1/640th, ISO 2500.

January 28, 2012: Adam Nelson, the Madison Square Garden all-time record holder in the shot put, throws in the inaugural U.S. Open Track & Field event. The event is the first in the USA Track & Field 2012 Visa Championship Series. — ©MSG
To view a full-screen version of this photo, visit the Photo of the Week section of AviGerver.com.
Happy 2nd birthday to my blog!

[A pair of twins winning a doubles match? How appropriate.]
Today marks the 2nd birthday of my blog, an experiment that I thought would last weeks, maybe months, but definitely not years. 290 posts and 2400+ photos later, my blog is more popular than ever with my readership increasing 250% from Year 1 to Year 2. The soaring numbers are due in large part to my new series about how I became a professional photographer (see links below). Thank you to all my loyal subscribers, commenters, Facebook sharers and Tweeters! I appreciate your support!
Here are some of my favorite posts from my blog’s second year of life:
- Kauai, Hawaii: Surfers and Sea Creatures
- How I Became a Professional Photographer and What I Saw Along the Way: Inspiration
- 476,138 planted and 523,862 to go for MillionTreesNYC
- Air In The Square
- The 65th Annual Tony Awards
- Kerrie, Marc, Haile and Harrison in the Hamptons
- How I Became a Professional Photographer and What I Saw Along the Way: Brooklyn Children’s Museum
- A Day of Hockey at Madison Square Garden
- How I Became a Professional Photographer and What I Saw Along the Way: First Concert
- 2011 Radio City Rockettes Wrapup
- The Year in Review: Top 11 of ’11
- 2012 NHL Winter Classic
Kelly Clarkson concert at Radio City Music Hall

Here are some photos I shot at the sold-out Kelly Clarkson concert (with opener Matt Nathanson) last weekend at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Lots more pics from the show over at MSGSoundCheck.com! ©Madison Square Garden, L.P.



















Matt Nathanson:















New York Rangers head into NHL All-Star break on high note
The New York Rangers and goalie Henrik Lundqvist took care of business last night in their last game before the NHL All-Star break, defeating the Winnipeg Jets, 3-0 at Madison Square Garden. The shutout was the 40th of Lundqvist’s career. With 47 of 82 games in the books, the team has sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers return to action this Tuesday in New Jersey, but won’t be back at Madison Square Garden until February 5th when they host division rival Philadelphia Flyers. Photos by Avi Gerver, ©Madison Square Garden, L.P.
A young fan hopes for a puck during pre-game warmups:


New York Ranger Dan Girardi:


Artem Anisimov gets checked by a Winnipeg player:


Rangers Ryan Callahan (#24) and Brian Boyle celebrate Callahan’s first period goal:


New York’s Stu Bickel chases down a puck with Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd right on his tail:


New York’s Brandon Dubinsky and Winnipeg’s Johnny Oduya:


Winnipeg’s Aaron Gagnon and New York’s Ruslan Fedotenko:


Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist:


Winnipeg’s Johnny Oduya and New York’s Derek Stepan:


Faceoff under Madison Square Garden’s iconic ceiling:


Chris Thorburn and Mike Rupp fight for the second time in the game:


New York’s John Mitchell (left) celebrates his goal with teammates Artem Anisimov and Michael Del Zotto:


Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi and goalie Henrik Lundqvist protect the net against Jets captain Andrew Ladd:


Rangers captain Ryan Callahan battles for the puck with Jets defenseman Mark Stuart:


New York’s Brad Richards celebrates his third period goal with teammate Ryan Callahan:

Photo of the Week #115
My choice for this week’s photo is a shot of a gleeful Henrik Lundqvist after his 3-0 shutout of the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Lundqvist, the New York Rangers’ star goalie, has been the backbone of his hockey team this year, allowing only 1.93 goals per game. With more than half the season behind them, the Rangers sit in first place in the Eastern Conference.
Photo tech specs: Canon 7D camera, 400mm f2.8 lens @ f4.5, 1/400th, ISO 100.

January 17, 2012: New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist tosses his stick into the stands at Madison Square Garden in celebration of his 20th win of the season, a 3-0 shutout of the Nashville Predators. Lundqvist became only the third goalie in Rangers history to record at least 20 wins in seven consecutive seasons. — ©MSG
To view a full-screen version of this photo, visit the Photo of the Week section of AviGerver.com.