This time we would like to introduce you to our (drum rolls) real-time ninja – Vlado Martinoski. He is our miracle worker, or in other words System Admin and we are trilled to share his personal story. With his story we are continuing the ‘People of Axapta Masters’ series of blog posts, in which we’re sharing the personal stories of our employees, their hobbies, and out of office activities. If you missed the first blog post, the story of Elena Rtoska, our “Wonder Woman for Skyrunning” you can check it here.
How did you discover photography?
Usually, people tend in their off-work hours to do an activity that will boost them up, make them more creative, help them grow personally… in my case, it would be photography and ninjutsu.
The passion for photography and art I could say that started from an early age but discovering the world of photography started nearly 10 years ago when my sister bought for herself a DSLR camera. In that period, I used every opportunity to “steal” the camera just to take a photo without realizing that I would be hooked up into photography. A couple of years went by, and then I bought a used DSRL with a good value/price ratio and there you go, I was in. Shortly after this, a couple of lenses followed in the list of equipment and that would be all the highlights of me entering photography. 😊
Now, when I go out to shoot some photos is during the weekends when I have the whole day for myself. It works as a cool therapy for the soul, I’ll grab the camera, some water, and sweets for energy and I’m on my way wandering in the city for a couple of hours chasing colors, shadows, shapes, and sizes. Taking a photo requires a bit of cognitive activity, placing the subject in the correct position, adjusting the camera settings appropriately are a few of the key factors for taking a stunning photo.
It’s strange that going out and photographing helps you with the work tasks sometimes. It gives you a different view of perceiving things/tasks for whom you’ll need to think outside of the box.
What is your favorite type of photography and why?
If we classify the types of photography by Landscape, Portraits, Close-up, street, Night, Astro, Macro.. then I’ll say: I like all of them, cause it’s the message, the story, the mood that’s in that photo that gives weight and value to it. Each type/style has its beauty, for example in Landscape you can tell a story of a wonderful place that is around us and set the mood accordingly, in Close-up you bring all those details which were there the whole time, in Street you have crowded places were a lot of things/events are happening to give you the dynamics in the photos or on the opposite side you have empty streets with some mixture of yellow/white/neon lights making you moody and mellow. ..for the sake of the question if I must choose then I’ll probably go with Street and Landscape.
Have you ever taken part in a photography competition, or do you plan on participating in one soon?
So far only once I’ve applied in a photography competition last year 😊 and that was “Skopje Photo Week”. The competition was open for everyone where 3 photos per competitor were allowed to capture Skopje from his/her unique point of view. In this competition, I was in the top ’20s which gave me the boost to keep up with photography, improve my skills and apply to other competitions that will follow.
Where can we find your photos, and maybe buy one?
What I post on social media is just a small portion of what was photographed that day. Yes, as you may have guessed my virtual space for the photos is Instagram and Facebook. I haven’t tried to sell any of my photos (I’m still considering myself as an amateur whose work needs more improvement, hence the fear of trying to sell my photos) although this year I’m thinking of putting an exhibition with specially selected photos that are dear to me with the possibility for the guests to buy one if they feel like 😊.
We heard that you are a ninja!
Ninjutsu is dif
ferent from photography, but in the end that helps me with work as well although in a different manner. As soon as the training starts you are entering a different world where nothing else is important except the technique you are practicing. For those two hours, three times a week you are learning how to respond to a sudden attack from your opponent, what would be the counterattack and the outcome of it, why that particular technique works better than the previous one, how to stay calm when you are facing dangerous situations and let’s not forget the philosophy behind the martial arts which had a huge impact on my point of view to the world and people around me.
Ninjutsu helps you removing all that stress, anger, and negative energy that piled up during the working hours and transforms you afterward, you’ll feel like a new person in a Zen mood 😊.
For me, both hobbies complement each other. Yes, on one side you channel your negative energy into punches and blocks at the ninjutsu training, on the other, you take a moment of a lovely sunset/landscape cherish it, and turn it into a photo, but these two merges together giving you the ability to look at things differently, to approach them from a different direction, to analyze the situation/moment, which is nice for someone who works as System Admin in a lovely dynamic and open-minded company.
One of the most interesting and impressive things that can get you hooked up is the seminars. For example, I was on the Ono-ha Itto-Ryu Seminar, where you practice a Kenjutsu technique with wooden katana (boken) in front of a yard of an old monastery, kilometers away from our dojo, but I should mention all other seminars as well where different weapons and techniques are learned, like throwing shuriken, survival techniques and so on.
There is much more to be said for both of my hobbies, but we’ll save it for the next blog post when I’ll have more experience in ninjutsu (maybe even teach some of the techniques) and my photos will be sold internationally 😊.
What’s the funniest myth you have heard about System Admins?
Funniest myth for System Admin? Other than being a bit strange, unconventional, and considered a full-time magician that can fix everything (this is considered as a default) starting from plug in a phone charger to troubleshooting a server, tv, fridge, and who knows what’s next, maybe a space shuttle.
Thank you Vlado for sharing your story and hobbies! We are inspired by your amazing talents and we can’t wait for your personal photography exhibitions in the near future.
If you have an extraordinary story and you are willing to share it with us, as part of our team, we incourage you to check out our available vacancies here and send us your CV.
