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