A morning out with Colorplus 200 - Photo Art Qatar Photowalk

Ever had a time when the setup you're using just works well? Like writing with a smooth pen on the left side of a notebook or driving a car that feels nimble to your input? That's exactly how I'd describe my time with this film stock on a sunny day.

On November 5th, Photo Art Qatar, an art initiative started by Ammar Alqamash, held a photo walk at Souq Waqif. With winter slowly creeping in, the weather on this Friday morning was perfect for such a walk: sunny, but not too hot (Here in Qatar, the week starts on a Sunday, with Friday and Saturday being the holidays) I jumped on the first opportunity to take photos and meet photographers around me. Hell, even the Nikon F3 had a roll of Kodak Colorplus 200 already loaded in it.

Considering it was Diwali the night before, I knew I wouldn't wake up early enough to reach the photo walk in time. I arrived an hour late. Typical. Before I reached, I snapped a quick shot at the pets market in Souq Waqif (above). While I didn't think much while taking it, I feel like the market's crowd really breathes life into the shot.

The next photo I took was near the bird market. I have seen this spot being photographed at Souq Waqif often. There's no surprise to that; the traditional architecture of the souq blends very well with Al Fanar tower in the background. Even at night, this spot is popular amongst photographers. When I saw the women in burqas in front of me when I was taking this, I knew I would really like the end result later.

This was the first time I went out with the 50mm after I cleaned it. Finally, I'd cleared up the grease that had been sitting in the helicoids of the lens for the last 20 years. The focus was finally smooth and dare I say, usable again, unlike last time.

Photo Art Qatar - Shot on Sony ZV-1

When I finally found the group, I realized my relationship with photo walks. At least how I see it, the concept of photo walks is to take photos and meet new photographers and creatives. For me, it's often just the latter. Considering how talkative I am, I tend to make friends at photo walks more than I take photos. Still, here are a few photos I took of the people I met at the walk.

These are some of the photographers that came to the photo walk. I got to meet some fascinating, creative folks here. Souq Waqif is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to take photographs in. There is always an ample amount of interesting subjects, and I feel only a few other places in Doha show off their people as nicely as Souq Waqif does. The following photos are some more of what I took that day before my roll ran out, hehe.

I'd say this photograph is almost perfect. Almost being the keyword. I took this somewhere around prayer time. I was sitting, sipping on a drink I bought from Al Mandarin, when I saw these three gentlemen walking towards a mosque nearby. I found the colors of their clothing very interesting. This photo could've been much better had I captured them two seconds before I did, with the three of them on the right of the frame instead of the left. That would've made the composition a lot more balanced. Still, I like this photo enough because of the layering with the five men in the photo. Besides that, the man with the hand visor adds to this photo rather well, in my opinion.

This is my favorite photo from the roll. The lighting is just perfectly atmospheric, and the focus is tack sharp. The empty seats, the colors, and the light hitting the surface give the photo a very appealing look.

I'll admit it; this one's a cliche. The thumb monument by French artist César Baldaccini is in the center of Souq Waqif, which means that EVERYONE takes photos here.

If I had a collection of street photos, this would be in it. I stood in this spot for a few minutes waiting for someone interesting to walk past. Luckily for me, these two boys did just that. I like the sub-framing through the doorway in this shot, as well as the color coordination of their clothing.

Sub-framed Al Fanar makes a return, and there's going to be more of where that came from.

At this point, I ran out of photos to take on this roll of film, but I still had some time to kill. I decided to take some photos on my point-and-shoot digital camera. The upcoming photos are from the Sony ZV-1.

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love the colors of Gulf Oil. So when I saw these two men sitting on the blue bench with their orange overalls, I knew I had struck gold. I walked around a bit hoping I'd get a clean shot, and this is the one I liked the most. Besides the colors, the way these men are seated in this photo is complementary too. The man on the left with his arm spread out is almost the opposite of the man sitting sideways.

This is a simple photograph, and the colors are what I like the most about it. Qatar is rife with beiges and clear blue skies, and I tend to take advantage of that whenever I can. The two colors go really well with each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed shooting with the Colorplus 200. In brightly lit, sunny conditions, this film stock shines. Although, it can be a little too warm from time to time. I will definitely experiment with it a lot more in the future. On the digital side of things, I am really enjoying going lightweight with the point-and-shoot, and I look forward to the times when I'll take it out for a full day of shooting (if the battery can last, haha!)

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