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