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