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