I am Adrian Limani, I am an Albanian self-taught photographer now living in Switzerland. I have studied computer sciences and was also involved in a digital marketing world where I held a certificate as a Digital Marketing Specialist. I enjoy watching movies, reading articles about geography and old atlases. One of my favorite movies is Gladiator, I am usually inspired by some nature scenes in this movie. I enjoy playing sports sometimes basketball and football.

How did you get started?

 Arts in general, was it photography, music, or painting, were my fascination since the time of my childhood. Today, photography is my passion, which started when I was 17 and only owned a digital camera, whereas when I was 19, I started using a professional camera. A short time later, I started to work professionally in photography and I am mostly disposed to work on digital pictures. I find myself better in this branch, bringing my imagination alive into pictures. Starting from the time when I firstly owned a personal computer, when I was 6, and moving to my visits to art galleries in various cities, such as Munich in Germany, I found myself in front of works of the best artists of all time, such as Picasso, Kandinsky, Da Vinci, etc. This was what attributed me full of imagination and creativity. The first time when I entered the world of Fine Arts, was the idea called “Life inside a Lightbulb”, aiming to bring something new, refining my personal pictures in various ways through my imagination.

How did other photographers influence your work?

 Since when I was 14 I discovered one of the first websites where artists from different genres can share their works and that was Deviantart. During that time, I didn’t have a camera but I tried to do graphic designs instead, exploring and seeing very creative ideas and I believe that had a very good impact on my inspiration and pushed me to continue on this journey.

Do you start from a predefined idea or does photography suddenly appear?

 I can say that I belong to both of these. Most of the time, I have my ideas in my mind since I mostly do Fine Art and conceptual so I go out taking photographs of what I need to realize that idea, and usually in between I try to photograph also photos that I can suddenly catch with great timing.

What equipment do you have?

 I use Nikon D7000 with different lenses including : Nikkor 18-105mm, Tamrom 18-270mm, Sigma 70- 300mm, Nikkor 50mm, Tamron 10-20mm

What software do you use?

 I usually use Photoshop and Lightroom to edit my photographs.

Your favorite photo and why?

 It is really hard to say and decide what my favorite photos are because I really love a lot of them. But the one that stands out a little bit more is the one I called Life inside a Lightbulb from my first collection. It is one of my favorites because it contains also my favorite tree which is located in my homeland that is my favorite place to take photos.

 What turns an image into a good image? What does make it stands out?

 I believe that an image should contain 4 main characteristics: Composition, Creativity, Light, and the Message that you convey, and if you have all of these 4 in one image that is what can make a photograph stand out from others.

Your tips to beginner photographers?

 My tips for beginners are to not be afraid to explore and try new ways of expressing your own creativity. Try to learn new things by yourself and develop your own kind of style. Register in different photographers' communities. 100ASA at the moment is the best choice since you can learn a lot about how to get better with time.

What are your plans for the future?

 In the future, I want to hold some individual exhibitions and take part in different international competitions. In the future, I will always work on bringing new photo collections.

Why did you decide to join 100ASA?

 I am registered in a lot of photographers' communities and also on social media. Today social media and especially Instagram have brought into shadow a large number of amazing photographers. Why? Because they weren’t lucky to get a large number of followers. I think there is a large number of these Instagram “photographers” whose focus is nothing but gaining followers and trying to use that “fame” into bringing some extra money into their pockets but sadly this is how is going these days.

 100ASA, on the other side, has brought a great platform for these photographers where they can present their work and be curated by professionals. And here you can see the best of the bests handpicked and not like on Instagram where you see the same Preset in every single photo which they say brings “an aesthetic profile”. In my opinion, that is the stupidest idea. You can’t use the same preset in every single photo, for me that is a way of limiting and ruining the name of Photography, at least if you care what photography is all about. True Photography is about helping each other to get good critique, improving the community, and not just commenting a thumb-up emoticon 😊.

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