Camels and Cameras

Friday evening I ventured out to the Souq again with my friend and colleague. We hope to keep this a regular, "Hurrah, we made it through this week, now let's do something fun" event. This time we experienced an entirely different section of the Souq, beginning with . . . Camels! The camels stay in an large outdoor pen, where the proprietors have tethered them in pairs. (Do they jump fences? I have not a clue. I do know that they may run at speeds up to 40 mph.) Somewhere around two dozen munched on their dinner of hay as we approached. None of them spat at us while we took photos. In fact they kind of hammed it up . . .  

We also discovered the "handicraft" section of the Souq, where many of the proprietors perform their craft in view of passersby, including glassworks, metalworking, leather goods and musical instruments. I purchased a lovely little candle holder made of metal and alabaster that mimics a traditional lantern:

Mini-Lantern

Just as we had decided to sit down and cool off with a lemon-mint (a tasty drink with orange blossom water, lemon, mint and sugar popular in Qatar), I heard drumbeats in the distance. Within a few moments about fifteen women in abbayah and hijab singing in Arabic and drumming paraded through the main vein of the Souq. Several men, most not in traditional dress, followed. Some of the women carried bolts of ornate fabric and other household goods. Many shoppers gathered to watch as they walked by and others joined, falling in at the end of the line. This wedding parade reminded me of the second lines in New Orleans, though without booze and crazy people throwing things at you. But, the expression and announcement of an important event remains the same. Does anyone else smell a comparative study?

JZog, you might wonder about now, why do I not see photos of camels or the wedding parade? Well, because I took those pictures with this:

 Olympus OM-10

Say hello to my Olympus OM-10, a 35mm film camera likely manufactured in the 1980s. I grew up using film cameras, though mostly point and shoots with auto focus instead of one with manual settings, and my Dad gave me one earlier this year to see if I might like to mess with them again. Truth is, even an entry-level camera like this takes better quality images than many digital cameras. Check out this picture of PeppeRoni taken with the Olympus:

PeppeRoni the Wonderpup

Colors tend to look richer and details, such as wet fur, turn out clearer with film. I still have much to learn about all the manual features, but I have done pretty well with focusing and the f-stop.

Clearly the primary drawback is that I do not instantaneously have photos to include with my blog posts. Many times when I go out I take both cameras, but that becomes quite a pain. The Olympus weighs at least three times a compact digital camera, and proves especially burdensome when I attach the longer multi-focal lens. This trip I only lugged the film camera. Unfortunately I have not found anywhere here that processes film, so I have no idea when I will manage to have these rolls of film developed. Maybe by next August I'll have a post dedicated to the 10 rolls of film I took in Doha. Who's up for that marathon? On the flip side, my poor, old, yet loyal digital camera has almost had it. After nearly ten years, way past its planned obsolescence I'm sure, my Nikon P-4 Coolpix has reached its last legs. Some days the photos turn out as only a blue haze, and it isn't the sand and humidity creating that illusion. I do have a plan for a new digital camera purchase, though, so soon I will have more (and hopefully better quality!) photos for the blog. In any event, I had an excuse to post a picture of my sweet puppy princess that I miss like crazy.

Also Go 'Cats and Whoop! (Though I strongly disapprove of Johnny Football's showboating shenanigans. Sheesh.)

XO,
JZog