Photo of the Week #131

Week #131 is what I can safely say in hindsight was bad vacation timing on my part. The week was a memorable one for the New York Rangers in their Stanley Cup playoff series against the Washington Capitals at Madison Square Garden. On Monday, the Rangers came from behind to tie Game 5 with 7.6 seconds remaining, then won it in overtime. On Saturday, the team won Game 7 (and the series) with a tense 2-1 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

But instead of my usual gig shooting Rangers home games, where was I this past week? Vacationing in the Dominican Republic, a getaway I had planned back in January. Not all was lost though because I got this killer shot of a Spotted Oleander Moth caterpillar. I didn’t even use any high-end photography equipment to do it, just the lightweight Panasonic LX5 point and shoot camera I always travel with. If you’ve never used the macro mode on your camera (usually indicated by a flower symbol) to take close-up photos, go exploring indoors and out and see what kinds of interesting critters you can find. The detail in the photos you come back with might surprise you.

Well, I’ll be back at Madison Square Garden tonight for the Rangers’ Eastern Conference Finals Game 1 matchup against the New Jersey Devils. Let’s hope it’s a good one!

Photo tech specs: Panasonic LX5 camera, 5.1-19.2mm lens (24mm-90mm equivalent) lens @ 24mm, f2.0, 1/40th, ISO 80.

May 12, 2012: A Spotted Oleander Moth caterpillar in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.

To view a full-screen version of this photo, visit AviGerver.com.