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Gallery: Souq Waqif at night

March 29, 2026 / 55 Comments

The best camera is the one you have with you

Chase Jarvis

In the past there were two options. Carry a camera if you were actively out taking photos or leave it at home and risk missing a serendipitous shot. These days we don’t have to choose. We can leave our heavy camera gear at home and still grab those unexpected moments with our phones.

I have to say that I still prefer to use a camera most of the time. I find having a viewfinder helps me with composition. And although my phone has plenty of useful settings, I find it fiddlier to change them than I do with a camera, perhaps because I don’t use it often enough for them to have become second nature. But there are still numerous occasions when I’m out and about and find myself reaching for the phone to capture something that catches my eye.

But when travelling I am rarely without my camera. The exception is at night as I don’t want to be encumbered with a heavy bag. In any case, I find the phone often does a better job in low light. My current phone is a Redmi Note 14 Pro. It may not have all the bells and whistles of an iPhone but it is a great option at a much more competitive price.  

For this week’s Lens Artists challenge Tina has asked us to post specifically about phone photography. Rather than share a random selection of phone shots I’ve chosen to show you a few images from a single location, Doha.

Souq Waqif at night

When we first visited Souq Waqif it was a Friday morning, and in a devout Muslim country therefore very quiet. As the morning wore on it got busier but there was none of the buzz I usually associate with a souk. That was to all change when we returned at night! That is when Souq Waqif really comes alive. And the great thing is that, while popular with tourists, it is also very much a place where locals come to enjoy a night out, especially at the weekend. I hope you’ll agree that these phone shots successfully capture the atmosphere of a night out in Doha.

Parisa

I also have to include a few shots of the beautiful restaurant, Parisa, where we ate one night. Unfortunately though, the setting outshone the food, which cost twice as much as our dinner the previous night and wasn’t really any better. However the mocktails (Qatar is a ‘dry’ country) were excellent!

Thank you Tina for giving me the impetus to share photos that might otherwise never have seen the light of day!

I visited Doha in late January 2026, just before recent events made the city a rather less inviting destination. I hope that very soon peace will return and more people will be able to visit and enjoy a night out in Souq Waqif.

55 Comments

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