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