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
@Antisomniac

[gallery] (FP-VI-QI)

 
Featured Pictures - the birds
Image 1Winter wren in Prospect Park
Image 2Western tanager which popped up in NYC, far from its usual range
Image 3Song sparrow on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park
Image 4Field sparrow in Central Park
Image 5American oystercatcher family portrait on Fort Tilden beach
Image 6Ospreys in a nest on Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Image 7Great blue heron in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 8Veery in the Central Park Ramble
Image 9Ring-billed gull in flight over Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 10White-breasted nuthatch on a suet feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 11Ovenbird in Prospect Park
Image 12Tufted titmouse floofed up in Central Park
Image 13Northern waterthrush in Central Park
Image 14Northern shoveler pair "shoveling" together in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 15Blue jay in Prospect Park
Image 16Blue jay fledgling calling for its parent in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 17Common grackle showing off its iridescence in Central Park
Image 18House wren doing its best eel impression guarding its nestbox.
Image 19House sparrows in Central Park
Image 20Tree swallow on a nest box in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 21Semipalmated sandpiper at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 22Northern cardinal female in Central Park
Image 23Northern flicker looking out from its nest in the Central Park North Woods
Image 24Chipping sparrow on a grave in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 25Ruby-crowned kinglet in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 26Rehabilitated eastern screech owl
Image 27Black-and-white warbler in Prospect Park
Image 28Downy woodpecker foraging in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 29Piping plover chick in Queens
Image 30European starling in Central Park
Image 31Gray catbird in Central Park
Image 32Great blue heron on frozen pond in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 33Bay-breasted warbler in Central Park
Image 34Immature mute swan in Prospect Park
Image 35Redhead in Central Park
Image 36American robin making a dog whistle-like alarm call in Prospect Park
Image 37Brown thrasher (snow-nosed variety) in Central Park
Image 38Red-tailed hawk yearbook photo, class of 2022, Central Park
Image 39Green heron in Prospect Park
Image 40Ring-billed gull in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 41Snowy egret in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 42White-throated sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 43Yellow-bellied sapsucker in Central Park
Image 44Short-billed dowitcher in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 45Blackpoll warbler in a flowering dogwood tree in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 46Cedar waxwing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 47A rescued American kestrel that couldn't be released so is now serving as an "ambassador" bird
Image 48Gray catbird in Prospect Park
Image 49Tufted titmouse with a seed in Prospect Park
Image 50Scarlet tanager eating a berry in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 51Cape May warbler in Prospect Park
Image 52Male northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 53Great blue heron lurching its head back to swallow a brown watersnake in Green Cay Wetlands
Image 54Female brown-headed cowbird chattering in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 55Downy woodpecker with a leaf on its nose in Prospect Park
Image 56Mute swan cygnet pontoon on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 57Red-necked phalarope at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 58Immature herring gull manipulating a clam in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 59Baltimore oriole (immature/female) in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 60Lesser yellowlegs at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 61A rescued Eurasian eagle-owl
Image 62Wood duck drake vocalizing in Central Park
Image 63Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 64Piping plover in Queens
Image 65Close-up of a white-throated sparrow in Central Park
Image 66Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 67Red-tailed hawk rescue
Image 68American tree sparrow in Central Park
Image 69Juvenile American robin
Image 70Northern mockingbird on a fence in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Image 71Great egret stabbing the water in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 72Northern rough-winged swallows in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 73Anna's hummingbird in Pacifica, California
Image 74Male house sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 75Fish crow cawing in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 76Northern mockingbird in a "tail up" display in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 77Canada goose gosling in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 78House finch with a sunflower seed at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 79American coot in Prospect Park
Image 80Golden-crowned kinglet
Image 81Immature cooper's hawk in Prospect Park
Image 82Three ring-billed gulls in Red Hook
Image 83First winter laughing gull in Riverhead, New York
Image 84Mute swan and cygnets on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 85Female northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 86European starlings on a birdhouse on Staten Island
Image 87Male northern shoveler in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 88Juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker in Prospect Park
 
Featured Pictures - everything else
Image 1Pier 66 and Hudson Yards
Image 2Male eastern amberwing dragonfly in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 3Familiar bluet in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 4The Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn is known for lots of elaborate Christmas lights, earning the nickname "Dyker Lights"
Image 5Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Image 6Green iguana panorama in Palm Beach County
Image 7A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 8Sarracenia leucophylla
Image 9Abandoned car in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 10Hell Gate Bridge
Image 11Fulton Center skylight
Image 12Composite of a clementine with/without peel
Image 13Magnolia x veitchii bud
Image 14Glass 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 15Coney Island Mermaid Parade (no, this is not a picture of Rhododendrites)
Image 16Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (18-frame panorama)
Image 17Lincoln Center during Pride at dusk
Image 18Comme des Garcons at the Met
Image 19Bigfin reef squid at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 20Memorial to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, taken just after Stonewall Inn was designated part of a National Monument
Image 21A [pretty dodgy] bridge along a cliff path at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 22Pond sliders (red and yellow) and a river cooter fighting for basking space
Image 23Black Lives Matter mural in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Image 24Maroon Bells. Easily one of the most awe-inspiring natural scenes I've experienced.
Image 25Crook 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 26Abandoned building in Floyd Bennett Field
Image 27City Hall Station in Manhattan, abandoned since 1945 because it looked cool but didn't
Image 28Raccoon in Central Park
Image 29Open Ocean exhibit at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 30Maroon Bells
Image 31Panorama of the once-active waterfront of Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Image 32Two juvenile Nubian ibex
Image 33Condenser at the defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station
Image 34Sukkah at Congregation Emanu-El of New York
Image 35Ash tree behind a columbarium in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Image 36Group photo of four pears
Image 37Salix catkins
Image 38Boston Public Garden
Image 39Sunset sky over Governors Island, NYC (panorama)
Image 40Daubeny's water lily
Image 41An island (with ospreys) in Trustom Pond in the fog
Image 42Rice paper butterfly with light shining through in Butterfly World, Florida
Image 43Ship 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 44Oculus
Image 45Frizzle sizzle
Image 46Eastern gray squirrel in Central Park
Image 47Moss-covered oak trees in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Image 48Monarch butterfly
Image 49Burberry rainbow cape at the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition
Image 50Redbeckia occidentalis
Image 51Quogue Village Wetlands Preserve
Image 52Lower Manhattan panorama
Image 53Coleus
Image 54Monarch butterfly
Image 55Defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station in Boston
Image 56Alexander 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 57Stata Center at MIT
Image 58Manhattan at night, looking north from Rockefeller Center
Image 59Hudson Yards in New York, taken from the top of Hudson Commons (9-frame panorama)
Image 60One World Trade Center through the Oculus
Image 61American lady butterfly on a purple coneflower
Image 62Sasheer Zamata at a Time's Up event during the Tribeca Film Festival
Image 63A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 64Pond sliders in Prospect Park
Image 65Waldemarsviken in Stockholm
Image 66California 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 67Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 68Bee balm seedhead
Image 69Quarry in Makhtesh Ramon
Image 70Leucistic eastern gray squirrel
Image 71Makhtesh Ramon
Image 72Great golden digger wasp in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 73Eastern chipmunk with stuffed cheeks in Prospect Park
Image 74Juvenile Nubian ibex on a wall at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 75Crocuses in early spring.
Image 76Male elephant seal resting between fights in Ano Nuevo
Image 77TWA Hotel
Image 78Cattlianthe Gold Digger ‘Orglade's Mandarin’ orchid
Image 79Eldridge Street Synagogue
Image 80Male tiger swallowtail butterfly in Central Park (missing its tails)
Image 81Rooftop farm on the Lower East Side