Photo: Pure freedom by Oleksandr Berezko

For our recent “Imagine The Possibilities” Photo Quest with DomainSmart.net, we asked you to submit photos that showcased feelings of freedom. You submitted great images that really captured a sense of spontaneity, choice, and uninhibitedness.

The lucky winner of this Photo Quest will receive a weeklong workshop scholarship with David Alan Harvey, courtesy of Domainsmart.net. About Domainsmart.net: Imagine the Possibilities! Business is better when customers can find you. Connect a .com domain to your 500px portfolio for an instant website with a personal web address you can share easily. No technical skills required.

And the lucky winner is… Oleksandr Berezko with his image “Pure Freedom.”

Pure freedom by Oleksandr Berezko on 500px.com

 



Read our judge’s thoughts on this photo:
Sometimes it is not necessary to show the subject’s eyes in order to communicate a feeling. This portrait is a clear example where a few elements—like the model’s smile and attitude, a colourful scarf, and a seagull in the background—can create a very nice and relaxed image.

Meet the photographer, Oleksandr Berezko: I am a semi-pro photographer and PhD in Computer Science, interested in design and visual communication, from Lviv, Ukraine. I started taking pictures with black and white film cameras quite early, thanks to my father who has also been a passionate amateur photographer since his childhood. My first digital camera gave me a completely different perspective on photography at the age of 24 and, followed by a DSLR in a couple of years, let me dive much deeper. Today my camera is always with me, which allows me to enjoy working on photography projects and experimenting with different genres in search of my own style.

Berezko also gives us the story behind his winning photo: I took this photo in July 2016 at the Black Sea shore near the village of Kobleve, Ukraine. It was a surprisingly cold day when swimming is not an option, so two beautiful girls, who turned out to be architecture students, were entertaining themselves collecting seashells at the beach. Spare time sometimes provokes creativity—they willingly agreed to a photoshoot. So that how it was—spontaneous models (one with awesome blonde dreads), natural soft light, strong salty wind, cries of seagulls and a unique feeling of pure, existential freedom with unlimited possibilities—the one you want to recollect.

Follow Berezko on 500px

For more inspiration, take a look through the submissions by our runners up:

Let the rain fall by Jennifer Sauer on 500px.com

 

Hiker. by Valeri Lysytsya on 500px.com

 

Locking towards the Sun by Oleksandr Mazur on 500px.com

 

Dolomiti rising. by Jelle Canipel on 500px.com

 

Sunset in Santa Cruz by John Henry on 500px.com

 

DSC by Rick Lawrence on 500px.com

 

The mirrored lagoon by Valeria Paulina Lustres on 500px.com

 

On top of the world #2 by Alexandru Laurus on 500px.com

 

Did you miss this Photo Quest? Take a look and check out the other Photo Quests we have coming up here!