Icons of Cigars™ — Jorge Padrón
Last week, I had the pleasure of photographing cigar legend Jorge Padrón for my Icons of Cigars™ series when he made a stop into Dallas (actually Rockwall) at one of the best B&M shops around, En Fuego. Great atmosphere, great people and a great layout for the shop made for a wonderful time.
Talking with him, Jorge seemed at once to be larger then life, but was also extremely approachable. He talked to BOTL for hours about this and that and took tons of photos with everyone, and while I did not know what I was thinking he would be like (I had never met him), for someone in his position in the industry, he was very affable. If you have not seen this interview with him, it is a very interesting read.
For this portrait, I wanted something that showed the intensity that I could feel coming off him in waves when we spoke, so I decided to shoot a photo with no distracting elements at all in the frame, that way, you (the viewer) are forced to concentrate on just him.
Thanks to Jorge for giving me the time needed to shoot this portrait, and as always, to A.J. for holding the light 
Glad you finally made it all the way to En Fuego...I wish I was able to attend, but as you know I was out of town. You'll have to get back out there when you can...shoot me an email and I'll meet you up there.
Great pic...I do like having him only in the frame...
Great shot. This is my favorite exchange in the interview (which is a bit dated, but still fascinating:)
"Q:Some people age their cigars after they make them, but you don't do that.
A: No.
Q: Why not?
A: Our tobacco is aged before it's made into a cigar. If you walk around our factory here, you notice that we were out of cigars. Everything that's made is exported. We don't keep any cigars, we don't have any aging rooms or anything like that. The tobacco that goes into those cigars is aged prior to going into a cigar."
I've never felt PA 1926s improve with age... this might shed some light on that
Nice pic! Jorge is such a cool guy. I met him at Padron HQ on 8th street a couple years ago. I was the only customer in the store and no one was behind the counter to help me. Jorge, himself came out and offered me a 64 Principe which i greatly enjoyed with cuban coffee. What a cool experience to talk with him and take pictures.
very nice...
Nicely done!