As I mentioned in a previous post, I shot some portraits for my cousin Lauren DeStefano, leading up to the release of her first novel, Wither: The Chemical Garden Trilogy. Since my last post on this topic, I was able to get my hands on a copy of the book and have finished reading it. I have to say I really enjoyed the read and could not put it down once I started. At this point I can't wait to get my hands on the next 2 books in the series.

Wither was originally set to be released on March 22, 2011, but I think it might be out already and available for sale.

If you get a chance I suggest you pick up a copy of this book and give it a read. You won't be sorry you did.

-Henry

I should have made this post last week but I've been real busy lately and this is literally the first free minute I've had in about week or so.

Anyways, last week went out to Philadelphia to shoot Bellator 33 (a professional MMA event). Bellator 33 featured a welterweight title bout between title holder Lyman Good and Bellator season 2 winner Ben Askren and a superfight between Philly native Eddie Alvarez and Roger Huerta. The fighter were action packed and since Alvarez is from Philly, fighting in his home town for the first time, there was a lot of energy in the arena. Askren defeated Good by way of unanimous decision and Alvarez defeated Huerta by way of doctor stoppage between the 2nd and 3rd round.

Below are a few of my favorite photos from the fights.

LeVon Maynard vs Rick Hawn
Ben Askren vs Lyman Good

I was recently approached by author Lauren DeStefano to do headshots of her leading to the release of her first novel, Wither. This book will be the first installment in the Chemical Garden Trilogy. Lauren decided not to include a headshot of herself in the book jacket of the US release of Wither but my photos can be seen on her website and will also be present in the book jacket of the overseas editions of the book.

Wither is scheduled to be release in March 2011 and is being published by Simon and Schuster. I was able to get my hands on an early copy of Wither and though I only had 1 day to read it, and I was not able to finish the book, it was incredible. I couldn't put the book down and I can't wait to finish it. For more info go to: http://laurendestefano.com

Congratulations Lauren!!! I can't wait to finish reading the book.

-Henry

This past weekend I photographed the Evolution AMMA July Bash in Seyreville, NJ.  This event was held at a night club and the lighting was very uneven.  That made it difficult to get some shots because I had to constantly change my setting depending on where the fighters were in the cage.

Nevertheless, it was a night full of exciting fights.  Their were doctor stoppages, submission finishes, close decisions and even a tie, but I'd have to say the most exciting part for me was my friend Kenny Rivera winning his title fight in the 154 lb division. This is extremely impressive considering he normally fights at 145, and had to jump up a weight class to take this fight.  Kenny's striking was crisp and his submission defense was outstanding.  In the second round Kenny effortlessly rolled out of an armbar making it look simple.

Below are a few of my pics from the fight.

-Henry

I just added another new gallery to the site.  It's called amateur mma and contains images from some amateur mixed martial arts fights that I recently shot in New Jersey.  I plan on shooting more amma fights in the near future so check back to see what I get.

Enjoy,

-Henry

I recently added a new gallery to the site.  It's called Israel.  The gallery contains a handful of pictures I took when I was in Israel during the summer of 2005.  These images were shot with various formats ranging form a 35mm, 4x5 to digital.  Though I did shoot landscapes in Israel as well, so far this gallery only consists of pictures of people.

Enjoy.

-Henry