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