Partagas Chico at a party

All my abandoned followers, my apologies for spending more time on my other blog and NOT smoking cigars enough to even write about them.

I was at a Halloween party last weekend and a guy was asked why he was accepting congratulations on his new baby but not passing out cigars.  He forgot he was talking to a bunch of coon-asses, so he let it get to him, and he went to the store in a rush.  When he got back, he said he picked up 8 cigars.  I thought that this was a good thing, go into the store, drop a hundred on some nice stuff and come back and pass em around.  Then I saw him pull out the two 4-packs of Grape-flavored Swisher Sweets.  My mouth must have been open for minutes, and when the grape smell began to waft, I went to the car to get my only hope, a tube of 5 Partagas Chicos.  It was a Montecristo package, created for these 'longer than a typical 'club' cigar' Montes that came out about 3-4 years ago.....I think there were 7 little machine-made Monties in it at one time.  I had the Chicos with me in case I got the jones to smoke, which I somehow doubted would ever happen, even as I packed them.  I let the kids smoke their grape pixie stix and passed out 4 Chicos to people that looked discerning.  As usual, good from the first puff to the hot last puff.  I think I have about 120 left....Might need to begin the hoarding process, lol.

Cohiba BHK52 in the mountains with my sister

What can be more disappointing than a $35 cigar on vacation?  Not much....thanks Habanos S.A.  I continue to believe ANY money you spend on luxury havanas is WASTED.  Inside ANY box of Montecristo or ERDM or Partagas, the lowest of their lines, on ANY given day can beat the pants off any top of the line product from Habanos.  Its sad, but its true.
I score this turd 76 points.  NOTHING but general tobacco flavor all the way to the bitter end.  Smoothness is the only thing that breaks this one above a 70.

Por Larranaga Petit Corona from Bill86

Once again, another havana from the kindness of strangers.....Got this one last time I saw Bill in Nashville, I think.  Was out smoking some meat, figured I'd have a double-smoke.

Not really a FAN of these...I like them when they are what people say they are, but more often than not, they are NOT what people say they are, namely sweet, spicy and full of caramel notes.  Now give me a Montecarlo, and I will agree with you.  But the PC, ehh, just another case of Cuba finding out through the online community that people are going apey over the a smoke, and they start cranking them out by the shipload, but instead of being choice, they are basically the same as a Montecristo No.4 is now, the same shape as the legend, the same band as the legend, but just also-ran tobacco.  Anyone who tells you that the PLPC today is the same cigar it was 12 years ago is full of 5hit.  ESPECIALLY anyone from Habanos S.A., or their agent.

I picture a guy rummaging through the guts of the goose that laid the golden eggs, trying to find the gold and discovering that the goose has to still be ALIVE to pop out the eggs on a regular basis.
This is what happens time and again down south.  They see through sales or online forums that one cigar or another is really popular, and within two years, the legend is dead.

Where was I ?  AH yes, the smoking of the PLPC.  It was good.  I didn't taste any sweetness or caramel, I tasted run of the mill havana flavor.  It was quite smooth and tamed, with a solid overall flavor of tobacco and herbs....mild and almost appealing, but solid nonetheless.  It burned so well I had to give it some credit just for being perfect in construction.  And it wasn't filled with string, hair and dust, it was a good smoke.  I just get tickled when I think of the modern habanos smoker who is smoking one of his 50 every 4 months, waiting for the magic flavors to come to the fore.  It never does, but he thinks that maybe he just got a bad cabinet, and orders another one, never realizing that he got flim-flammed by the best.  I know smokers that I respect, that still think they can trust the PLPC, they just have to give em enough time.  News flash for my good friends, the days of the 10 year old havana that still has years of development left are OVER.  Have been since the early 21st century.  You aren't going to end up with a good cabinet of PLPCs in 3 years, 4 years or 6 years or 10 years....You are only going to get the modern equivalent; one or two outstanding cigars in 25, 10 good smokes and 10-12 horrible sticks that make you think, "what the hell was THAT?" or "one day, these bad cigars are going to come around."  You are following a centuries old model of habanos, perpetuated by people like Min Ron Nee and others, that there is a prime time to smoke these cigars, you just need to wait and be there when it happens with a full box of cigars, relax and enjoy them at their prime.  That is over.  Now you have between year 2 and year 5, and then your cigars are going to quickly become expensive curly heads.  They pulled a fast one on you and didn't tell anyone.  The Chinese figured it out ten years ago.  People scoffed at them back then.  Problem is, they were right.  Welcome to the future suckers.

74 points

The kindness of strangers....Illusione 888 circa 2009

I have had this smoke on hand for a Loooonnnggg time.

Neens fessed up with it many years ago when I told him that I did not really enjoy Non-Cuban cigars.  Well, he took me to school, many times over.  Just to name a few of the great cigars I have had for the first time thanks to this great brother, The Man o'War Puro Autentico, Illusione Holy Lance in maduro and candela, and a coupla Dirty Rats, too.  (THE ORANGE TEXT WLL LINK YOU TO THOSE REVIEWS!)
I have had most of the best Drew Estate Liga Privada cigars of note, thanks to the same great brother.

Well today I was out smoking chicken and a Boston Butt and it was time to smoke a cigar.  This one was a big Churchill, and it was really great.  Dark and sweet and interesting from the first puff to the last, this cigar kept hammering me with flavor, nothing really identifiable, but again, dark and sweet and rich and strong to name a few attributes I noted.  From start to finish, the cigar was also perfectly constructed and delivered the goods.  I never felt like the cigar was hitting a bad spot, and the flavor never faded or treated me to less than awesome smoke.  

The first third was a dark and sweet mystery, like molasses and pepper.  The middle third was milder, but strong enough, and more along the lines of coffee with a hint of tea.  The end got a little hot, but the flavor didn't turn, so I smoked it a little more than half way to the band from this last photo.  

The fact that it was a gift from a great friend made it that much tastier.  I have ONE MORE smoke from this bag of cigars, a fat and oily Liga Privada No.9.  I will get to that when the air turns cooler and thought turn to LSU football.

I sure want to thank Neens, one of Connecticut's best BOTLs
I score it a solid 86 points.

4 years on....smoking the 09 H. Upmann Coronas major Tubos

If you want to bring a smile to my face, mention the H. Upmann Coronas Major Tubos.  This is one of the most unknown masterpieces of all the Habanos Catalogue.  Just a work of art and flavor.  Great looking even for a tubed cigar, these cigars always seem to draw perfectly and as they age gracefully in the tube, offer a different but equally pleasing smoking experience as the years go by....

And poor ole Hello Kitty Lighter, she is taking a bunch of em for the team isn't she.  She just seems to always be in a bad spot when it comes picture taking time.  As you can see, the wrapper is refined and elegant...slip the band off and you might be convinced it were a Cohiba.  And the taste would not disappoint you, either.  What a generous serving of sweet tobacco, cocoa and herbally leather.  Puff after puff, it continued to satisfy, as I smoked a rack of ribs outside, reveling in the latest summer cool front to pass through Memphis.  The weather hasn't done that since the first year I arrivedin town ten years ago.  TWO summers straight of moderate, downright porch-swingin' summer weather.  I know someone is paying the price somewhere, but at least it ain't ME.

As the cigar progressed, the rewards did not diminish or turn harsh.  i enjoyed extreme sweet leather flavor throughout, nuanced with pepper and some delicious cocoa-ey flavor that was not quite chocolate, but almost a chocolate stout flavor....not tar, but that kind of near-chocolate flavor.

I smoked this one only to about halfway, was bummed about 
wasting half of it before I ruined it by over-smoking it.  I think
there might not be a better sub-$4.00 cigar on earth.  BUY, BUY,
BUY!

89 delicious points

1999 Sancho Panza Bachilleres

I occasionally get a chance to smoke one of these, EXCEPTIONAL about 5 years ago, been tapering off rapidly since then.  

It is reasonable to accept their fate, packed in dress boxes and all.  This particular cigar started off mellow and mocha-java, but then as I began to set up the BBQ pit for some indirect cooking of spare ribs, I must have begun to huff it a bit and it got old fast.  Never recovered.  It was a decent stick for what I bought them for, messing around in the yard.  But as a fine, aged smoke, ehh, it let me down.

Then I laid it down for 5 seconds and came back to find it humping Hello Kitty.  Sancho always was a randy sort.  68 points.

2007 Montecristo No.2

After some ingrate took my last cigar, I thought this blog would be over.  The guy had a bit of a reading comprehension problem, or maybe he had a FEAR issue, but in any event, he became a real dick.  So me being the kind of guy I am, I let the titty-baby win, let him feel like he was justified in crying like a newbie baby and ignoring the risks involved in what he wash trying to do.  So I sent him all of my cigars and banished him from the kingdom forever.  Too long a story to go into here, and the individual is not worth spending any more ink on.

But a kind soul I know was hanging out with me, and asked me why I had no cue-ban cigars to smoke.  I told him about the weasel out in California, and he offered me a Montecristo No.2 to salve my spirit.  We were already knee deep in other cigars, so I put it into my box for another time and thanked him for his generosity.  And after a tough week in the salt mines, I decided to light her up on the porch.  

I poured a Holy Sheet Ale that I got at Peabody's Wine and Liquors in Boone, NC a few years back and headed out to cut her and light her.  I put the tiniest cut on it and it drew a little too easy, but upon lighting it, the smoke control was pretty good.

It looks like my nails could use a cleaning, but I just cut and edged my grass, so I am not going to get worked up about anyone seeing it.  The flavors were pretty weak, but I could tell it wanted to open up a bit more, and figured when the thing burned down a bit, it would come into it's own.  There was a decent breeze to keep the skeeters at bay, and it had been a VERY cool day for early July.  The cigar was a well-rolled work of art, a nice deep medium brown with no red in the leaf.  The smoke was initially just some light leather and toast.

As I got down to the middle, a rich and creamy and slightly oily cocoa flavor came into the smoke, with a hint of what I used to get from a Cohiba Behike 52, a 'last sip of milk in a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles" kind of taste.  I like that taste.  The coolness is there, the chocolaty flavor is there, the powdery creaminess is there.  

The only thing that made it less than perfect was the slightly acidic note I got every few puffs, but it was just as well, if you like a cigar's taste too much, you are bound to overheat it and ruin the experience.  I was not going to do THAT, because this cigar improved steadily from first puff to near the end.

With the half a beer gone, (It had come in sort of a bomber ) I had no choice but to pick up the pace a bit on the smoke, but that's when disaster struck, I over-puffed it in trying to get that last bit of cocoa-ey goodness out of it.  Where you see it is where I left it only moments later.  It was a great smoke, thanks Bill.  If I had to score the smoke with the weak start and tarry end, it could easily go as low as 80 points.  But since many cigars start slow, and I caused the melt down at the end, I score it 87 points.  A pretty fine Montecristo No.2  nothing close to the potential of the vaunted legend, but after the week I had, a perfect ending.

Say Hello to My Leetle Fren...Partagas Chicos for Summer!

In habanos, there are few real "withdrawals" to worry about.  Cigars are not addictive so far as anyone has been able to prove, and while you never want to be without them if you can help it, there is no need to panic if you run out for a time.

Unless you are talking about Partagas Chicos.  They are both addictive and cause a panic (in me) when I run out.  There is a guy overseas who sells these by the multiples of boxes.  That's a great way to get em.  They are not cheap per se, but what you get for the cost of about a single box of 898Vs is basically a year's supply.  Which is what you need.  Not since Lay's Potato Chips has there been a challenge to 'smoke just one' that was so daunting.  They are small.  They are delicious.  And if you can finish one without thinking immediately about having another, you are a better man than me, Gunga Din.

These come individually wrapped in a easy-open sleeve of cello, and for some reason, the band comes off when you slide the cello off.....every time.  It makes me wonder if there IS such a thing as cigar band etiquette.  Maybe we DO need to be removing our bands.  

There is no need for a cutter, the smoke is already waiting for you when you open the sleeve....LIGHT ME, ALICE, it seems to call out.  So I did.  I had to cut the grass yesterday because the 13 year old kid that lives with his Granny, my landlord, can't be bothered to do it.  I PAY to live there, he plays video games while I do the yard work.  It is not stipulated that I do it, but if I didn't, we'd look like the hillbillies that they are.  He also can't be bothered to put trash in a can til its full before starting another one, so today I rolled THREE partially-filled bins out to the street.  And this afternoon, he will also fail to take them in, and I will have to do that just to get my car into the gate.  But in the end, I win anyway.  Sure, I sweated my butt off doing yard work this week in 100 degree heat (in freaking JUNE), but I KNOW he likes smoked ribs, and the porky little 5hit hasn't had one in two years.  Not off my smoker anyway.  And that is his punishment.  If he asks me, I tell him straight out, you haven't done 5hit for two years to help me out, so you are banished from Rib City.

What the hell was I talking about?  OH yeah, YARD WORK and rewards.  I finished cutting the grass and edging all the sidewalks and curbs, put up my tools, poured a small glass of fresh-squeezed Valencia orange juice with a few ice cubes, foregoing the vodka even though it is sitting in the freezer, and lit up a Chico.  What perfect pleasure.  The cigar has a unique taste.  At it's core, there is Partagas spice and an old flavor that seems to be what people must have enjoyed in a Partagas many years ago, before they all started to taste the same.  But there are two strange notes that are VERY consistent for a cigar rolled by a machine out of random scraps of tobacco.  There is a dank mustiness as well as a deep, winey flavor, fermented and sickly sweet.  it sounds bad but tastes good.  This makes me believe that while these are rolled from galera scraps, at least in the case of the Chicos, there must be a very consistent place and time where they are collected.  Not sure if it is ONLY Partagas hand rolled scraps going in per se, but there should be NO WAY to have such a consistent flavor from rolling scrap.  They burn fast yet cool for the first half, then ramp up and get hot at the halfway point, then mushy at the 1/3 point.  

I know there are many among the people that read this blog who have never HAD a Chico.  I have tried to remedy that with a select few of you, and you know who you are.  But I just want to re-iterate what I have said many times here on this weblog.  GET YOU SOME DANG CHICOS, MAN!  What the hell are you waiting for?  The em-bahr-go to lift?  It ain't gonna happen.

A Sad Day in Smoking History - Partagas Lonsdale 2002

Well, it finally came to pass.  I smoked my last Partagas Lonsdale from just about the best looking cabinet of cigars I ever saw.  These were rare when I first bought them, seems like almost ten years ago.  Maybe more like 8.  But now?  Sheesh, these are goner than gone.  And today, my own stash is also gone.  But what a way to go.  I went outside to watch a DRIVING rainstorm that didn't seem like a downpour, it just seemed like a month's worth of rain, all decided to come down over the space of one evening.  It was torrential, but also constant.  I thought about not even lighting the cigar since it was SO muggy and wet, I thought it would draw up tight on me, and this was not a cigar I wanted to waste.  I had already cut it though, and the draw was perfect, I love watching the rain, so I decided to just go for it.

HEAVEN ON EARTH.  The smoke instantly drenched my tongue with butter and herbs and sweet spice.  Once I got into the first 1/2 inch line, it immediately turned into sweet red peppers and burnt sugar....that's funny, I initially typed BURT SUGAR.  Man I miss ole' Burt Sugar.  Of course, he was BERT Sugar, not BURT, but it made me think of him just the same.

ANYWAY, continuing, with Bert's permission, I couldn't believe what a great cigar this was.  People always ask, why are Cuban cigars so special?  Well right here was the perfect answer.  I have been smoking cigars for what seems like 20 years straight, and I have never had anything that comes close to the pleasure and flavor this cigar gave up.  It is wholly unique in every way.  Its not even so much that non-cubans don't have great flavors, its that no other nation can provide THESE flavors.  Sure they can do pepper, they can do spice, but its the CORE that you wrap other things around that Cuba has over all the others.  In all other countries save for maybe Nicaragua, the base tobacco flavor is a lesser flavor to me.  Havanas can be stunning with ONLY this core flavor presenting.  Everything else is an extra added value.

The cigar burned straight as a builders square could make it, and an interesting taste of "roasted honey?" came through.  I know that is weird, but it wasn't straight sweet, there was a funkiness to it, and then a roasted quality on top of that.  I cannot place it for the life of me. But it was almost erotic.  Certainly the way I felt trying to lick and caress that smoke in my mouth for every last nuance it could offer was sensual.  Bordering on pornographic.  I couldn't let the smoke go before I had used up it's last molecule of flavor.  And then when that was gone, I could get MORE.  But like all good things, it would not last.  But when the next flavor came, it was almost as good.  That sweet, creamy butter flavor was still there, and I got a caramel-pepper flavor with it which gave up even more of a finish on my mouth.  It was CHEWY like you can't imagine.  It was then that I remembered ALL THE LESSONS I have learned here.  DON'T heat it UP!  SLOW DOWN.  I did, and I think I got an extra inch out of that strategy in the end because I smoked this one to an inch long.  Once the ends of my shoes got soaked, I was through being amazed by the rain and found myself just annoyed, so I tossed the butt in the flower bed and folded up my chair.  The end of an era had come and gone.  I will miss that cabinet of smokes.  And were another to come available, I could never afford it, anyway.  So it really is goodbye old friends.

The highest score I ever gave by a superlative long shot.  100 points

New Orleans Photo Safari April

New Orleans is one of the most lush cities in the world to photograph.  Even it's ugly side is visually interesting.  But nothing can top it in the spring of the year.  Summer is also a very GREEN time there, but its too hot for ME to be there.  My sister seems to be willing to take it, and her son REALLY seems to be able to take it.  But right now, it is clear and cool there, and the colors of the French Quarter combine so well with the various resident's efforts to plant colorful hanging baskets and planters.  The secret to the success of this trip was the brutal morning wake-up time I prescribed for myself.  Had I left from Memphis, it would have been an 11pm ride to reach the city at dawn.  But thanks to brother Eu, I have a place to stay absolutely free. (thanks again)  I rolled out of a fitful night's sleep at 4:28 am and hopped into my clothes, and got myself down to the French Quarter as the sun began to brighten the horizon before rising above the flat expanse of the Mississippi River.

As I parked in a primo street spot and entered the Vieux Carre', I was only a tiny bit surprised that there were still people in a few of the more tiny, non-Bourbon St. local's bars.  The music was playing as if it were 2 am and here it was 5:30 am.  I was gonna shoot into some of the doorways, but I thought that was kinda no class.  My job was ninja photographer, get in, get out.  So I shot a little in the low light then headed up to the River for a wide shot of Jackson Square.

After a long, rough Friday Night in the quarter, they usually pressure wash and dis-infect the whole place, since a good number of our beloved tourists are not house trained.  They think the whole city is a urinal.  And instead of finding one of the ubiquitous trash cans, they just throw things to the ground where they finish them.  The streets adjacent to Bourbon are covered in trash, and apparently the famous Hand Grenade drink in souvenir plastic tube is popular, as they were everywhere.  The night had begun with the news of the capture of those A-hole ferners that blew up the Boston Marathon.  Even the pigeons were chanting Coo-S-A, Coo-S-A.  
It was weird.

The main reason I went on safari so early was for the glut of cars that develop in the quarter as the day goes on.  Some you just can't avoid.  but if you are smart and lucky, you can shoot the whole place without the eyesore of cars everywhere.  And then there's the LIGHT.  You don't get light like this at any other time of day, and it makes all the difference.

Everywhere I walked, the streets were drying from the a good cleaning they had recieved before dawn, and I got LIGHT and reflections out of the deal. I was giddy as a schoolgirl.

This poor, ole homeless guy was probably not appreciating the loud shutter on my Nikon.  The light wasn't strong enough to show that towel is completely covering his head.  The vendors were beginning to set up, tarot readers, art sellers, performers....everyone was seeing what they basically see every day, but for me it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen down there, and I used to live there.  I had never SEEN the quarter at dawn.

One of the main reasons I wanted to get down early was to see St. Louis Cemetery No.1 without getting mugged.  The famous Iberville housing project is right next door to the cemetery on Basin Street.  The old song used to say, "Basin Street, Basin Street, where the black and white folks meet."  Well, at the cemetery, the black folks often met the white tourists and took everything they had.  My mother was shocked that my little sister went last month and that I was going this weekend. But still, I took my cheapest camera, and went on in, figuring the gang-bangers were all still asleep, and I covered the square that makes up the oldest cemetery in a very old city.  This is the reputed resting place of the famous Voodoo priestess Marie Laveau.

I found it ironic that she was resting right next to the city's first black mayor, Ernest "Dutch" Morial.  He never looked all that black to me, but I don't mean that to sound racist.  He just looked like a white guy to me.  A lot of people really loved Dutch Morial.  And there he was, right next to one of the most famous and controversial women in the city's history.  While I was showing the site to a couple from abroad, a crew was scrubbing the XXXs off the tomb.  Apparently they don't like it much, it's been against the law to mark the tomb in such a way since 2005.  But tradition holds that you mark the Xs and knock on the tomb or shout at it to cancel out a gris-gris that's been put on you, or to request a favor from the priestess, whom followers believe is as powerful today in death as she was in the 1800s.

One thing I know, even though its over 400 miles one way for me to go there, the city is as ever in my blood.  I was not born there, but lived there for 15 years and easily came under it's spell.  No other city has the magical pull that New Orleans has for me.  I know it won't be long before I head back down with empty memory cards and full batteries.

Another DOH! moment

I had a review for you all this week, it was a rare NC cigar, I thought it was a Padilla piramide shape, but when I guugled that name to get the actual title, specs, etc, the bands did not match up.  It is a very well-known name in NC cigars, it was a double banded stick with a red second band and we wouldn't even be having this discussion but for the fact that I was getting ready to go back down to NO for some more camera safari action, and I formatted the card that had the pics of the cigar in progress that I took to support the  review.  But I saved the bands and photographed those, and FORMATTED THAT TOO!  Luckily I still have the bands somewhere at the house, but I am leaving for NO from work today, so it will be Monday before I can get the review up....no, that's not true, I can tell you now, it was nice and strong, not too rich, but certainly enjoyable.  It was all dark coffee and rich leather and a hint of creaminess on the tongue.  The band featured a script name, progressing upwards at a 30degree angle from the bottom left corner of the band, and I think it was on an oval background, oriented left to right as opposed to up and down.  It is killing me that I do not know what it is, I think Hugh M. gave it to me 2 years ago at the Shack, and it is the general dimensions of a Monte No.2.

More to come on this mystery, I guess, lol.

-----------

Edited to tell you that I was right, it WAS a Padilla, a Capa Habano 2010 Series.  I liked it a lot, I am still not a big fan of Non-Cuban tobacco, although i was for the early decades of my smoking life.  But i like any cigar that someone gives me, and I enjoyed the overall performance VERY much, and the flavor was not bad at all.  I only seem to prefer the soft and subtle flavors of havana tobacco to the point of exclusion of the other types.  I had two of these, so thanks to Hugh M. and the other nice person who gave me this on the same day.

Start Up Short - (2007 Partagas Short)

Eventually, even the most jaded of you would admit, I was going to have to start up the smoking part of this blog again.  And so it began today that I eased back into it with what is actually just another photo walk.  I had been testing so many used, ole skool lenses, and I began to think that maybe my cameras were so old as to be virtually useless.  I mean I rarely came home with anything that made me say, "Dang, this camera was a real upgrade to my years of point and shoots."  I HAD better lenses, but they were a known quantity, they were "quality glass".  I had no reason to test them on photo walks.  But that known part was mostly in my mind.  I had not really tested them outside of the bar shots I had with the girls from last month.  

So tonight I pulled out a damaged-wrapper Partagas Short, cut it and lit it.  I slapped on the Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 and took a shot of it indoors with the flash for the before shot.  

Almost too little depth of field...the foot of the cigar is out of focus, lol.  But this is a cigar review, let's not get caught down in the weeds.  I took my short walk route down the Greenway, past the flower beds that are stunningly late in being cranked up this year, considering it is 80 degrees out there.  There were only a few flowers up, tulips they were, and a precious few of them to boot.

The cigar was strong and creamy, with plenty of spice and nuance.  As most of you know, I do not think a walk cigar is very good review cigar.  It is hard to get subtle flavors hidden in the smoke when you are exerting, and a good walk should always be an exertion.  But for the early part of the cigar, things were going pretty good

It was only when I got down to the middle of the smoke that it began to show the harsh and tarry notes that characterize a walking smoke in my experience.  Until that happened, I was able to pick out some distinct cherry notes, a strong belt of leather and red pepper with some jalapeno starkness, and occasional notes of cream and mint.  I realized quickly just how long it had been since I smoked a cigar.

But after that point, it was mostly downhill.  Wind, huffing and an exercisers general lack of ability to hold in a breath long enough to detect nuance led to a cigar that did not really have any pleasure associated with it.  I am sure that had I sat down on a bench for the second half, things would have been very different.  But that was not to be on this particular evening.  I held onto it and smoked it to the band, but the last third was not very good.  Still, under the circumstances this was a very good smoke.  Perfectly aged, very well behaved, and lets face it, a welcome change to the new 'photography blog' this has become of late.  All in all, a worthy smoke for a warm and pleasant evening.

IGNORING the fact that it was only half good, I will give the first half an 85, and let the second half be what it was.  And lest you think that I have totally reformed, here is a pretty flower.

One More Photo Post Before We Smoke....

OK, we are almost back to cigars.  I even took three cigars with me to New Orleans.  I didn't SMOKE them, but I HAD them in the bag.  I had a funeral in Baton Rouge, and since I had to ride for 6 hours just to get there, I took all of my camera bodies and a few good lenses and drove down to the French Quarter to shoot some pics.  Why burn all the gas and time and not get some great photos out of the deal?

I parked on the street on Esplanade Avenue on the east boundary of the French Quarter and waded into the sea of humanity that was a perfect day in New Orleans.  I REALLY should have ponied up the cash for a motel room outside of town to ensure another day just like this one, to shoot twice as much stuff, enjoy twice as much perfect weather, see twice as much skin from the ladies, all smiling and happy to be there and enjoying the world-class sights, sounds and smells of New Orleans.  And the 10-20mm lens just dazzled me.

There were SO MANY PEOPLE in the quarter, and in most cases, I just tried to frame them OUT, but it is all part of the ambiance that was so pervasive, around every corner there was something going on.

The sky was so blue and perfectly laced with clouds, so as to add such a great dimension to the photos.

I have to get down there again as soon as possible, before the heat gets out of control.  I can skip the whole summer without a second thought IF I GET IT DONE NOW.  The weather forecast merely needs to get close to what it was this weekend and I am IN THE CAR, and I am definitely staying overnight next time.  SO much to shoot, everywhere I turned.  I have always loved New Orleans, and specifically the Quarter.  But even growing up there did not allow me the enjoyment I got out of it yesterday.  I got to see the city in a new way, as a 'tourist'.  Because I guess after all, I WAS a tourist.  I felt so much of what I imagine other visitors feel, even down to the guy that came up to this dude with two big ol cameras and said "I bet you a dolla I can tell you where you got yo shoes.."  I told him, "wow, you really KNOW that I got my shoes on St. Peter St. in the French Quarter?"  he said "aw, man, ain't nobody gonna put nuttin pass you."  but I tracked him back down after I took my picture and said, "yo man, here's the dollar for trying.  That gotcha is SO OLD, you deserve credit for even TRYING it in 2013."  We girl-watched for a few minutes and made some small talk and went our separate ways.

I had a bit of exposure trouble out of my Nikon D100, but the D70 worked without a hitch.

What a great day.  I miss you already, darling.

To New Orleans I will Go.....

I have a funeral to attend this weekend, in Baton Rouge, LA, USA.
I have been running from city to city seems like every weekend for two months.  In reality I have had 2 of 8 weekends off to loaf around and do 'nothing'.  Nothing is relative, I have no wife, husband, kids or anyone to do my housework for me, all that stuff gets done on the weekend.  But this weekend, I am out of town again, and with a plan to head from the Memorial Service straight out the door to New Orleans to shoot and smoke around the city.  In all the world I am not sure there is a more interesting city to photograph than New Orleans.  There are older cities, there are cities richer in architecture, prettier people, cleaner vistas.  But the combination of culture and history in that city just beg to be recorded with a camera.  

This week I have rooted through all of the ice chests to see what is what.  Seems like I no longer know WHAT I have outside of a few boxes that I have had forever and have almost never been opened.  I have so many boxes with 8 of these, ten of those, 4 of that size, blablabla.  I opened up EVERYTHING last night and took a lot of notes.  I came up with a 2007 Partagas Short to smoke, it had a torn wrapper.  So I will smoke that for sure.  I am also hankering for a big ole Esplendido.  So I think I will bring one of those along, too.  I have a few things I have wanted to shoot for some time, and there is always the element of discovery.  The weather looks like its gonna be perfect, so we will see how it goes!

Bit of a Conundrum..Liga Privada or Punch Churchill

I think Hugh gave me this last summer, I say this because it would seem a foregone conclusion that I would smoke the havana.  But there is a chance it will be the the hard core choice of many other smokers.  I don't smoke many of these Drew cigars anymore, just no time.  But the ones I have smoked have been very thoughtfully blended.  Nice smokes.  So it IS a bit harder choice than it would seem, and the weather is batshit today...GUSTY winds, 40-50-60 mph from the SW.  SO it might be warmer in air temp, it is still a tough smoke outdoors.  I might get away with one indoors today, since it is 'warm out there', mid 50s I guess.  Warm enough to flush smoke out of the house and not freeze in the process.

Went out today and shot some pics with this last new wrinkle of my overall plan to dominate the world through cameras.  I love the world that you see through a wide angle lens.  It reminds me of looking through a viewfinder and roaming the eye around in this square little world, reading what I can around it's periphery, trying to see what the camera claims its doing.  You have to get right up close to what you want to shoot, or there is really no shot.  The Sigma 10-20mm ultra-wide angle lens is fairly accurate in how it presents the world, with just a little linear distortion, which most photographers would say they prefer, to enhance the other-worldly quality of their results.  This is not something you use to go show someone how straight you are building their house.  But if you don't use a ruler to measure lines in your little world, then you can take this lens and create pictures that force a viewer to confront them.    In a private world, where people are doing candid street photography with a 200mm lens from across the street to capture private little moments in the lives of others, this lens tells you that if you want to see anything, you had better go introduce yourself to it.

  
Well HEY there, Queen Amidala, I didn't mean to catch you getting out of the tub, but I wondered if you could help me straighten something out..."

I went back to shoot some more pictures behind this bar, and was shocked at how far away I had to stand to get anything substantial in my shot.  I had been so spoiled by the field of view in ONE DAY, that I couldn't live without it.

I could take a picture of something intimate without having to wait for people to move.  Furthermore, if the background was no problem, I could get lazy with the framing and leave a ton of red bricks in the photo, or I could fill the frame with graffiti.

I tried this shot again the next day and I had to stand IN THE STREET to frame it only a little wider than this.  In this particular frame, I am standing a foot from this brick wall.  Man that lens is capable.  Which is why I really have to smoke a cigar, to celebrate the end of me buying cameras and camera-related accouterments.  I hope I never spend another cent on metal and glass, just relax in a zone where everything used somehow miraculously manages to stay intact in my hands and take great pictures until I pass it on to someone else, and on and on until it no longer functions in a world that has passed it by.  Now, to see if I can take a great picture.  For tomorrow the ninjas may take my camera.

More Testing

My sister is getting anxious now.  She feels like the Nikon D70 is going to take any joy out of taking photos that she may have NOW prior to taking delivery.  I will say that it has been a challenge to squeeze anything out of this camera that makes sense.  But this is like the first WHEEL, or the first cell phone.  It might have been cool in Miami Vice days to hold up a shoe-sized cell phone to your temple and fry your brain, but if you wanted to call ahead and order lunch, you had to break some eggs.  Everything about digital SLR cameras has gotten more sophisticated since the introduction of this model.  But this is what makes it fun for me.  It would have been fun for my DAD, too.  He would KNOW why more megapixels doesn't mean a thing to a person with skill at taking nice photos.  

But there IS the little quirk or two, 1.) metering that is good but hardly consistent.  Pointing and shooting and NOT checking to see what just happened is not wise.  2.) The camera is inconsistent in color and contrast.  For every session, you will need to establish that the camera is set up well enough to get a usable product out if it.  Nothing more than a few test shots, hell, they're free.  But both things are manageable and in a way, make you think more about what you really WANT to have as your result.  I think it will be MORE OR LESS point and shoot, but with better image quality.

With all that in mind (and with a promise to get back to CIGARS in a week or so) I shot some photos getting out of the car at 6:50 am at work.  The battery has since died and is not allowing me to fire the shutter now, so LUNCHTIME shots are not happenin.  But outside of the fact that I did not set ANY camera settings, this is ABOUT what I saw this morning.  The white balance is off, not sure how easy it is to for the camera's brain to AUTO white before the sun comes up...it gets a pass.  If I had set up a SPOT metering, I could have kept that sky from closing the iris down.  I think I needed to meter in the darker areas.  But the CAMERA and its designers wanted me to have access to the lovely nuances in the sky, I guess.

I turned around and fired off a second shot, this one much better exposed to the TRUE light conditions.  The color and overall feel are as I saw it.  Had I taken the time to white balance, it would have been nicer, but I don't guess that affects the levels, so ehh, again, this is how my morning eyes saw it for the most part.  And to be honest, everywhere I have taken the camera, I have come back with something useful.  I just have to shoot a lot more to ENSURE
that I have SOMETHING.  Its ALL gonna be fine, sis.  

And then I got into the office and set up the camera on a tripod to see if I could eliminate any camera movement and see JUST how sharp the lens could be if I wasn't there shaking it.  But then I decided I would play a little long exposure fun and games....

  I was pleased with the camera's handling of the lighting in this 4 sec. or so exposure.  And it certainly looks sharp enough.  But til I test it out again tonight, ehh, I am just posting to entertain and inform my sister.  But soon more cigars, I promise.

And lest I forget, her son just accepted a full tuition scholarship to the institution of his choice, well, provided he chooses the school that offered it, anyway.  I am impressed that a modern youth has the give-a-crap to survive today's education system and come out in demand by colleges everywhere.  Well DONE C-man.  Got yourself a free camera with that one, lol.

testing, testing....

As you already know, or if you are arriving late, you will find out NEXT, reading downward, I have been testing a couple of 'new' old Nikon D70s, and its as if I have NO SKILL whatsoever in shooting photos with a camera of any kind.  Consistently over-exposed, terrible color, etc.  But then I am finding that it is rarely a lost cause with some adjustments in Photoshop, and I am getting the feeling that a lot of what we see in 'modern digital cameras' is a decade of learning by the industry to sweeten the image very effectively in camera before you ever see it.  This old D70 is right there on the cusp of technology where digital began.  These almost-large sensors were housing large pixels and could take great photos (in 2003) that rival anything you see for amateurs today, but the software packed in to it for turning this old sensor's light input into imagery has come a long way since 2003.  Everybody is tweaking everything now.  And when you get everything right, you get good shots in the camera.  If you get one or two tiny things wrong, you have to seriously work with Photoshop to get levels and colors to look the way you saw them.

I know this is not cigar related, but my sister sometimes reads this, and one of the cameras is hers now, so finally figuring out how to make it take a good picture and then handing it to her and saying LOOK OUT, this camera is insane, is important to me.  Mostly I just share my dejection at looking like a rank amateur instead of a career picture creator.  So here is about the last pic I took in my camera tests, and there was no sun bouncing into the camera, I seem to have hit the exposure properly, with no exposure compensation dialed in...nothing done or not done by me to destroy the camera's effort to make me look good.

Interesting dynamic range.  Interesting to also see that the camera IS CAPABLE of not taking crap-ass pictures.  Now I just need to find the circumstances under which it is willing to do so.

Then there is this one that I took not because I like to take flower pictures, just like everybody who gets a digital camera and runs out of ideas after they buy 5 lenses, but because the Camelia is such a difficult flower to see in a beautiful state just with your eyes.  But to find one and have a digital camera in hand is a little miracle.  The Camelia does nothing but die ugly from the moment it blooms.  You don't get the week or two of slow and graceful aging of a rosebud.  It pops open and then every insect in town tramples all over it and it gets brown spots in mere hours, turns brown all over in a few days, and then hangs on in disgusting brown and white clumps until a strong enough rain comes and knocks them off.  

Not only did the camera handle the light, it handled the color.  it looks really nice there.  And then I saw a coupla hipster girls duck into the local market for some beers, and left their bikes all by themselves.

I had to do some tweaking in Photoshop on this one, it hatched from the camera too bright, not enough contrast.  I don't MIND tweaking in a program, but my sister might not think its very much fun, especially since her point and shoots do a much better job of hatching pics with proper brightness, contrast and saturation already baked in.  I don't think I lost a lot of info in bringing down the brightness here, but who knows.  In the end, the pic works for me, and so does the camera.  But I could see getting my butt in a crack and not getting a shot I want because I am not lucky enough to have figured out what the meter is trying to tell me I am doing.  We'll see, I don't have to turn it over til Easter.  I can still figure out why I suck at pitcher takin.