Rural Qatar I
There are a few real challenges being a photography enthusiast in Qatar. The most obvious is the harsh climate. It is virtually impossible to venture outside (let alone into the desert) during the roughly six months that we consider "high summer" due to temperatures that can routinely exceed 50 degrees Celsius. Thankfully "low summer" has arrived again, meaning desert exploration trips are possible for the next few months.
Secondly ,Qatar's desert is for the most part a featureless wasteland, save for a few isolated interesting areas where more visual interest can be found to photograph. This makes it quite hard to explore and become inspired as a photographer, especially after living in Qatar for an extended period of time.
Thirdly, the quality of light is generally extremely harsh. The sky is mostly clear and a hazy white or light brown, hardly ever clear and blue. During the "low summer" rainy season (which have just started) we can find a few days with either clear blue skies or some cloud to create better light conditions than normal.
This small selection is from my first desert trip for the 2018/2019 "low summer" season, taken around the geographic centre of Qatar. Great to be able to explore again!
My drive also included a quick visit (my first) to the only known cave in Qatar. The mouth of this cave is just a hole in the flat desert landscape, but the huge single cavern extends about 100m down. The lowest floor (roughly where my photo is taken from) is also considered to be the lowest geographic level of Qatar, at about 50m under sea level.
