User: `Rhododendrites`

Long-time Wikimedian who decided, a few years ago, to try to take better pictures to contribute to Commons. I feel like I've learned a lot from this community, and continue to do so. Always welcome photography tips/constructive criticism.

Though I take pictures of lots of things, a few areas of concentration are the New York City area in general, protests, conventions (not so much in 2020), and birds (much more so in 2020). If you're in NYC (or coming to NYC) and want tips or to plan a photography outing, let me know. There are several Wikimedian photographers here.

My main camera is an Olympus OM-D E-M5 mark ii (micro four-thirds format). I like it, but don't know if I can recommend the format any longer. Olympus announced in 2020 that they plan to get out of the camera game. The future of its camera business seems unclear at the moment, possibly being transferred to another company, and Panasonic is the only other company making the gear (with some compatibility issues around the way they do their image stabilization). I hope it'll look up, but we'll see.

This is my main account for contributing to Wikimedia projects. From March-July 2021, I contracted with the Wikimedia Foundation, researching the impact of Suggested Edits on Commons. My WMF account is User:Rhododendrites (WMF), which is now inactive. Edits I make through this account are strictly as a volunteer.

Rhododendrites

rhododendrites AT gmail DOT com

(FP-VI-QI)

 
Featured Pictures - the birds
Image 1Mute swan and cygnets on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 2American avocet
Image 3Red-tailed hawk yearbook photo, class of 2022, Central Park
Image 4Tufted titmouse floofed up in Central Park
Image 5Immature mute swan in Prospect Park
Image 6Great blue heron lurching its head back to swallow a brown watersnake in Green Cay Wetlands
Image 7Brown thrasher (snow-nosed variety) in Central Park
Image 8Least sandpiper in breeding plumage in Queens, NYC
Image 9House sparrows in Central Park
Image 10Downy woodpecker foraging in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 11Lesser yellowlegs wading at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 12Ring-billed gull preening/bathing in Marine Park
Image 13Wood duck drake vocalizing in Central Park
Image 14Pine warbler perched in Prospect Park
Image 15Rehabilitated eastern screech owl
Image 16Rufous motmot, Costa Rica
Image 17Juvenile Forster's tern calling for its parent in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 18Female northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 19Female American redstart in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 20Bay-breasted warbler in Central Park
Image 21Great egret stabbing the water in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 22Cape May warbler in Prospect Park
Image 23Ospreys in a nest on Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Image 24Redhead in Central Park
Image 25European starlings on a birdhouse on Staten Island
Image 26Immature herring gull manipulating a clam in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 27Male northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 28White-breasted nuthatch doing its nuthatchy pose in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 29Close-up of a white-throated sparrow in Central Park
Image 30Common grackle in Prospect Park
Image 31Tufted titmouse perched in Central Park
Image 32White ibis in Ocean City, New Jersey (I kind of prefer the uncropped version)
Image 33Red-necked phalarope at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 34Eastern wood pewee in Prospect Park
Image 35Female hooded merganser resting on the Central Park Reservoir
Image 36Pine siskin in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 37American oystercatcher family portrait on Fort Tilden beach
Image 38Great blue heron in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 39Chipping sparrow on a grave in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 40House sparrow mother with chicks
Image 41Immature cooper's hawk in Prospect Park
Image 42Dark-eyed junco in Brooklyn
Image 43Three ring-billed gulls in Red Hook
Image 44Eastern kingbird
Image 45Blue-gray tanager in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Image 46Snowy egret
Image 47Anna's hummingbird in Pacifica, California
Image 48House finch with a sunflower seed at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 49Red-tailed hawk rescue
Image 50Semipalmated plover in Queens, NYC
Image 51Baltimore oriole (immature/female) in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 52Lincoln's sparrow in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 53House wren doing its best eel impression guarding its nestbox.
Image 54First winter laughing gull in Riverhead, New York
Image 55Tufted titmouse with a seed in Prospect Park
Image 56Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 57Northern mockingbird on a fence in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Image 58Mute swan cygnet pontoon on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 59White-breasted nuthatch on a suet feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 60American robin making a dog whistle-like alarm call in Prospect Park
Image 61Huge flock of gulls just after they were spooked by something during a horseshoe crab feeding frenzy in Cape May, New Jersey
Image 62Juvenile eastern kingbird
Image 63Gray catbird with a chokeberry in Prospect Park
Image 64Great black-backed gull in Quogue, NY
Image 65Blue jay fledgling calling for its parent in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 66Juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker in Prospect Park
Image 67Gray catbird in Central Park
Image 68Male house sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 69Ring-billed gull in a rainbow over Niagara Falls
Image 70Black-crowned night heron in Prospect Park
Image 71Ring-billed gull in flight over Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 72Northern waterthrush in Central Park
Image 73Pine warbler in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 74Golden-crowned kinglet
Image 75A rescued Eurasian eagle-owl
Image 76Red-tailed hawk, fearsome predator
Image 77Male northern shoveler in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 78Broad-billed motmot at the Arenal Observatory
Image 79Female wood duck
Image 80Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 81Gray catbird in Prospect Park
Image 82Northern mockingbird in a "tail up" display in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 83Palm warbler in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 84Scarlet tanager eating a berry in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 85First-winter American herring gull, Brooklyn
Image 86Eastern wood pewee in Central Park
Image 87Brown creeper about to be released at a bird banding station in the United States
Image 88Black-capped chickadee eating seeds in Central Park
Image 89Field sparrow in Central Park
Image 90Tree swallow on a nest box in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 91Ruby-crowned kinglet in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 92Western kingbird at Bush Terminal Piers Park
Image 93White-throated sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 94Piping plover chick in Queens
Image 95Lesser yellowlegs at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 96Great blue heron on frozen pond in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 97American goldfinch in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 98Short-billed dowitcher in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 99Piping plover in Queens
Image 100American avocet fishing in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 101Palm warbler perched in Prospect Park
Image 102Lesser yellowlegs in Queens, NYC
Image 103Blackpoll warbler in a flowering dogwood tree in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 104Black-and-white warbler in Prospect Park
Image 105Female Blackburnian warbler in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 106Palm warbler in a meadow in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 107Fish crow cawing in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 108Semipalmated sandpiper vocalizing in Queens, NYC
Image 109Yellow warbler in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 110A rescued American kestrel that couldn't be released so is now serving as an "ambassador" bird
Image 111European starling in Central Park
Image 112Juvenile yellow-crowned night heron at Plumb Beach
Image 113American coot in Prospect Park
Image 114Snowy egret in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 115Male northern flicker in Manhattan, NYC
Image 116Veery in the Central Park Ramble
Image 117American woodcock in Bryant Park
Image 118Canada goose gosling in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 119Killdeer at the South Cape May Meadows
Image 120American robin
Image 121Black-capped chickadee at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 122Warbling vireo singing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 123Downy woodpecker with a leaf on its nose in Prospect Park
Image 124Common grackle showing off its iridescence in Central Park
Image 125Cedar waxwing in pokeweed in Prospect Park
Image 126Male brown-headed cowbird in Prospect Park
Image 127Song sparrow on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park
Image 128Ring-billed gull coming in for an unwelcome landing
Image 129Northern flicker looking out from its nest in the Central Park North Woods
Image 130Blue jay in Prospect Park
Image 131Northern rough-winged swallows in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 132Tropical kingbird in the rain by Lake Arenal
Image 133Winter wren in Prospect Park
Image 134Dark-eyed junco at Bush Terminal Park
Image 135Hermit thrush at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Image 136Male black-throated green warbler in Prospect Park
Image 137Northern cardinal female in Central Park
Image 138Purple martin in flight in Cape May, New Jersey
Image 139Northern shoveler pair "shoveling" together in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 140Western tanager which popped up in NYC, far from its usual range
Image 141Great kiskadee in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Image 142Green heron in Prospect Park
Image 143Yellow-bellied sapsucker in Central Park
Image 144Male yellow-rumped warbler singing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 145Glossy ibis in Queens, NYC
Image 146Mourning dove perched in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Image 147Gray catbird watching a hawk fly overhead in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 148Golden-crowned kinglet at a banding station
Image 149Ring-billed gull in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 150American tree sparrow in Central Park
Image 151Cedar waxwing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 152Ovenbird in Prospect Park
Image 153Western gull sitting on a boat in San Francisco Bay
Image 154Mandarin duck drake in eclipse plumage in Royal Lazienki Park
Image 155Female brown-headed cowbird chattering in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 156Western kingbird at Bush Terminal Park
Image 157Apricot Mandarin duckling in Royal Lazienki Park
Image 158Juvenile American robin
Image 159Semipalmated sandpiper at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
 
Featured Pictures - everything else
Image 1Makhtesh Ramon
Image 2Proboscis bats in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica
Image 3The Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn is known for lots of elaborate Christmas lights, earning the nickname "Dyker Lights"
Image 4Red admiral butterfly on purple coneflower in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Image 5Rice paper butterfly with light shining through in Butterfly World, Florida
Image 6Eastern chipmunk with stuffed cheeks in Prospect Park
Image 7Red-legged grasshopper feeding on a flower in Tennessee
Image 8Strawberry poison dart frog in Costa Rica
Image 9Male eastern amberwing dragonfly in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 10Staszic Palace, Warsaw
Image 11Toronto Reference Library interior from the top floor
Image 12Castle Square, Warsaw
Image 13Alexander Hamilton Custom House Collector's Room ceiling. Had to be a bit obnoxious to get this one, setting up a little tripod in the center of a crowded room and actually getting down on the floor to frame it. Who doesn't like a nice ornate ceiling with a nautical theme, though?
Image 14Baird's tapir mother with baby in Costa Rica
Image 15Small milkweed bug in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 16Bow Bridge in Central Park (panorama)
Image 17City Hall Station in Manhattan, abandoned since 1945 because it looked cool but didn't
Image 18Male monarch butterfly on Tithonia
Image 19Panorama of the Apennine Colossus in Tuscany
Image 20Saint Christopher Street in Valletta
Image 21Blue dasher with Arrenurus water mites in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 22Maroon Bells
Image 23Pond sliders (red and yellow) and a river cooter fighting for basking space
Image 24A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 25California sea lion in La Jolla. My first experience seeing wild sea lions in person. It was ... loud. This one just looked downright majestic in the sun.
Image 26Crook Point Bascule Bridge in Providence. It's been stuck in the open position for 50 years. A local landmark, but slated for destruction soon.
Image 27Crocuses in early spring.
Image 28Hudson Yards in New York, taken from the top of Hudson Commons (9-frame panorama)
Image 29Monarch butterfly caterpillar on butterfly weed
Image 30A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 31Glass blower. This was moments before he accidentally dropped it. Heartbreaking (and vasebreaking). Talented folks here, though, and I actually went back a while later and took a class. Got a piece of lit up frozen spaghetti to prove it.
Image 32Manhattan at night, looking north from Rockefeller Center
Image 33One World Trade Center through the Oculus
Image 34Fulton Center skylight
Image 35Abandoned car in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 36Camp: Notes on Fashion at the Met
Image 37Fork-tailed bush katydid close-up in Walland, Tennessee
Image 38Cattlianthe Gold Digger ‘Orglade's Mandarin’ orchid
Image 39Optical illusion on the floor of the Florence Cathedral
Image 40Northern dog-day cicaca exuvia on a flower in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 41Burberry rainbow cape at the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition
Image 42Florence seen from the Duomo terrace
Image 43Bee balm seedhead
Image 44Quogue Village Wetlands Preserve
Image 45Eastern cottontail portrait in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 46Oculus
Image 47TWA Hotel
Image 48Hell Gate Bridge
Image 49Ash tree behind a columbarium in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Image 50Quarry in Makhtesh Ramon
Image 51Eastern amberwing
Image 52Lincoln Center during Pride at dusk
Image 53Eldridge Street Synagogue
Image 54Female eastern amberwing
Image 55Bigfin reef squid at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 56Mantled howler monkey with baby in Costa Rica
Image 57Northern elephant seals in Ano Nuevo, California
Image 58California sea lion nap time at La Jolla Cove
Image 59Hell Gate Bridge walking path on Randall's Island
Image 60Open Ocean exhibit at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 61Moschino fall 2014 ready-to-wear ensemble in the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the Met
Image 62Magnolia x veitchii bud
Image 63Panorama of the once-active waterfront of Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Image 64Left by Gucci/Dapper Dan, 2018. Right by Louis Vuitton/Kim Jones, autumn/winter 2018-19, Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Image 65Prospect Park Vale of Cashmere covered in lesser celandine, with a leucistic white squirrel in the distance
Image 66Red squirrel in Lazienki Park
Image 67White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel perched on a tree in Brooklyn
Image 68Pipevine swallowtail
Image 69Black Lives Matter mural in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Image 70Defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station in Boston
Image 71Great golden digger wasp in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 72Comme des Garcons at the Met
Image 73Immature male blue dasher
Image 74The Seaside Sanatorium in Connecticut
Image 75American lady butterfly on a purple coneflower
Image 76Coney Island Mermaid Parade (no, this is not a picture of Rhododendrites)
Image 77Twice-stabbed stink bug on meadow anemone
Image 78Two juvenile Nubian ibex
Image 79Composite of a clementine with/without peel
Image 80Abandoned building in Floyd Bennett Field
Image 81Pond sliders in Prospect Park
Image 82Lower Manhattan panorama
Image 83Male zabulon skipper in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 84A [pretty dodgy] bridge along a cliff path at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 85Clouded sulphur in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 86Male elephant seal resting between fights in Ano Nuevo
Image 87Hell Gate Bridge, with a scow being towed along the Hell Gate section of the East River
Image 88Boston Public Garden
Image 89Green iguana panorama in Palm Beach County
Image 90Monarch butterfly
Image 91Monarch butterfly
Image 92Arenal volcano
Image 93Pearl crescent on purple coneflower
Image 94Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (18-frame panorama)
Image 95Algal mat in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 96Condenser at the defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station
Image 97Meadow in the morning in the Great Smoky Mountains (with namesake smoke)
Image 98Raccoon in Central Park
Image 99Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 100Female Huron sachem in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 101White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel with a peanut
Image 102Eastern cicada killer perched on a black-eyed susan
Image 103Male familiar bluet
Image 104Eastern gray squirrel in Central Park
Image 105Waldemarsviken in Stockholm
Image 106Pier 66 and Hudson Yards
Image 107Nine-banded armadillo in Costa Rica
Image 108Redbeckia occidentalis
Image 109Memorial to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, taken just after Stonewall Inn was designated part of a National Monument
Image 110Large milkweed bug
Image 111Familiar bluet in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 112Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Image 113Northern flatid planthopper nymph
Image 114Window in a cafe in San Gimignano, Italy
Image 115Sasheer Zamata at a Time's Up event during the Tribeca Film Festival
Image 116Coleus
Image 117Common buckeye in Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis
Image 118Moss-covered oak trees in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Image 119Tiger bee fly
Image 120Maroon Bells. Easily one of the most awe-inspiring natural scenes I've experienced.
Image 121Chinese mantis ootheca in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 122Salix catkins
Image 123Sunset sky over Governors Island, NYC (panorama)
Image 124Daubeny's water lily
Image 125Orchard orbweaver
Image 126Stata Center at MIT
Image 127Duomo Firenze terrace
Image 128Bluebells in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 129Ship in the San Francisco Bay fog. Got lucky with the dramatic fog on this one, which opened up just enough to frame the ship in light.
Image 130Razor clamshell dress from spring/summer 2001, in the Sleeping Beauties exhibition at The Met
Image 131Juvenile Nubian ibex on a wall at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 132Frizzle sizzle
Image 133Sarracenia leucophylla
Image 134Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Katowice
Image 135Triq San Patrizju facing the Basilica Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta, Malta
Image 136Group photo of four pears
Image 137Wonder Wheel sign on Coney Island
Image 138Rooftop farm on the Lower East Side
Image 139Abandoned van by Gerritsen Creek
Image 140An island (with ospreys) in Trustom Pond in the fog
Image 141A cavapoo dog chasing a malipoo dog with a ball
Image 142Sukkah at Congregation Emanu-El of New York
Image 143Jun Takahashi dress for Undercover in the Sleeping Beauties exhibition at the Met
Image 144Male tiger swallowtail butterfly in Central Park (missing its tails)