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