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