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