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