Description
The burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia) is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. This bird got its scientific name in honor of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom whose favorite bird was an owl, and the Latin word cunicularia, meaning a miner or burrower. As the name suggests, they nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs, squirrels, rodents, or even reptiles.
Their diets include insects, small mammals, amphibians, reptiles, and other birds, depending on the season and food availability. They are most active at dawn and dusk, but some of them hunt during both day and night. Insects are more often caught during the day, and more mammals are consumed at night. They also collect mammal waste and put it around their nests to attract dung beetles – their favorite food.
When hunting, they wait on a perch until they spot prey. With eyesight that is 100 times more sensitive to light than a human’s eyes, they can see their prey with great clarity. Although their eyes are immobile, they have the ability to turn their head up to 270 degrees to see peripherally. They then swoop down on prey or fly up to catch insects in flight. Sometimes, they chase prey on foot across the ground.
CURATOR NOTE
Small but mighty - Though small in stature this tiny predator is very impressive in its own right.
There is power in defining your strength, honing it and realizing its full potential. By harnessing your strength you will achieve accomplishments you never believed possible. Rather than focusing on weaknesses, focus on your strength, continue to improve based on your path instead of comparing yourself to others. We all have unique traits that help us excel.
I really appreciate the perspective of this image, his small stature is balanced with his surroundings so you see him for the predator he is rather than his size. Often it is all about perspective.
THE CURATOR
Emma aka NiftyMetaGirl is active in the NFT space as a collector, community builder, avid art supporter, and NFT enthusiast. In the past year many artists have found guidance through the community she co-founded, MetaJungle. She is one of the few female collectors at this time and very supportive of female voices in the space.
THE ARTIST
Hendro Soetrisno is an international award-winning photographer. He is a Master of Photography from PPA, a Master Photographer in Fine Art - Accredited in Fine Art Nature from MPI, and a Master of WPPI. He represented the United States in the World Photographic Cup and brought home the gold medal in the Nature category and the Best of Nations award. He has won over 150 prestigious awards from reputable organizations worldwide including Professional Photographer of America, Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, Master Photographers International, Australian Institute of Professional Photography. He also held several Photographer of the Year titles from various professional organizations.
Hendro is a visual storyteller. His fine art nature images are part of his imagination, where the color of the water is sometimes pink instead of blue, where birds and other animals speak to him when he speaks to them.
His work is a result of more than 25 years of photography, thousands of captures, endless waiting for a single perfect moment followed by months of post production to bring his world of imagination to you.
He started his photography using a medium format film before switching to digital. He was a landscape photographer at the beginning but then his interest expanded to include wedding and portrait photography before settling down in fine art nature.
Upon a suggestion of a friend, he entered his first professional competition in AIPP (Australia Institute of Professional Photography) where he got his first awards. He continued entering other major professional competitions, among them were Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), Professional Photographers of America (PPA), and Master Photographers International (MPI). Not only were those competitions judged by the world's best photographers, he had to compete against them as well and all these have been contributing to his learning progress. He has won at least 150 awards and earned several Photographer of the Year titles from different organizations.
As an acknowledgement, he also earned Master degrees from PPA, MPI, and WPPI. He is an accredited fine art nature photographer in MPI. These are not academic degrees but accumulation of achievements from each prestigious competition.
Upon rigorous selection, he was chosen to represent the United States in the prestigious World Photographic Cup - the Olympics of professional photography. He brought home the gold medal in the Nature category and also won the Best of Nations award.
Apart from competitions, he also mentored some fellow photographers.
His current photography style is a combination of what he learned and experienced as a landscape and wedding/portrait photographer. While landscape is quite dependent on natural light, wedding/portrait can be manipulated using man made. He "lights" his animals using the same principles as how he would light a human either using natural or artificial light.
The event that brought him to his current style was actually a casual conversation with one of the most reputable wedding photographers. He attended his workshop and during a break he told him that he needed to be his own, not just a copy of the photographer. There are a lot of talented photographers and he has to have something that distinguishes his work from theirs. Something that can be recognized as his. He does not want to be a nature photographer. He prefers being a visual storyteller who uses animal fine art to tell his imagination.
He entered the NFT world in mid January 2022. His first series "VIVID" which consisted of 10 images of edition of 1 were sold out in a month.
He run the collective Artists United. Their first project "TOGETHER" was the very first in the history of the NFT photography collective to be curated by a collector with a buy-back guarantee. It was sold out in 3 days.
LICENSE
Extended Editorial: Can be used to display privately, or in commercial and non-commercial settings, or in groups with an unlimited number of participants. The license includes unlimited use and display in virtual or physical galleries, documentaries, and essays by the NFT holder. Provides no rights to create commercial merchandise, commercial distribution, or derivative works.