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 1Mute swan and cygnets on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 2Blue-gray tanager in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Image 3Red-tailed hawk yearbook photo, class of 2022, Central Park
Image 4First winter laughing gull in Riverhead, New York
Image 5Bay-breasted warbler in Central Park
Image 6Dark-eyed junco at Bush Terminal Park
Image 7Piping plover in Queens
Image 8European starling in Central Park
Image 9Gray catbird with a chokeberry in Prospect Park
Image 10Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 11Snowy egret in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 12American robin
Image 13Glossy ibis in Queens, NYC
Image 14American tree sparrow in Central Park
Image 15Redhead in Central Park
Image 16Female northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 17Great kiskadee in La Fortuna, Costa Rica
Image 18Cape May warbler in Prospect Park
Image 19Ring-billed gull coming in for an unwelcome landing
Image 20Western kingbird at Bush Terminal Park
Image 21Male yellow-rumped warbler singing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 22Ring-billed gull in flight over Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 23Huge flock of gulls just after they were spooked by something during a horseshoe crab feeding frenzy in Cape May, New Jersey
Image 24Veery in the Central Park Ramble
Image 25Song sparrow on Lookout Hill in Prospect Park
Image 26Great blue heron on frozen pond in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 27Tufted titmouse perched in Central Park
Image 28Semipalmated sandpiper at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 29Immature mute swan in Prospect Park
Image 30Yellow-bellied sapsucker in Central Park
Image 31Apricot Mandarin duckling in Royal Lazienki Park
Image 32Eastern kingbird
Image 33Field sparrow in Central Park
Image 34American coot in Prospect Park
Image 35Pine warbler perched in Prospect Park
Image 36Juvenile yellow-crowned night heron at Plumb Beach
Image 37Wood duck drake vocalizing in Central Park
Image 38Purple martin in flight in Cape May, New Jersey
Image 39Great blue heron lurching its head back to swallow a brown watersnake in Green Cay Wetlands
Image 40A rescued Eurasian eagle-owl
Image 41Great blue heron in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 42Broad-billed motmot at the Arenal Observatory
Image 43House wren doing its best eel impression guarding its nestbox.
Image 44Blue jay in Prospect Park
Image 45Rufous motmot, Costa Rica
Image 46Egyptian goose head in Hyde Park, London
Image 47Tufted titmouse with a seed in Prospect Park
Image 48Brown creeper about to be released at a bird banding station in the United States
Image 49Dark-eyed junco in Brooklyn
Image 50Chipping sparrow on a grave in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 51Yellow warbler in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 52Black-and-white warbler in Prospect Park
Image 53Lesser yellowlegs wading at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 54Western gull sitting on a boat in San Francisco Bay
Image 55Male northern shoveler in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 56Carrion crow with some berries in Hyde Park, London
Image 57Fish crow cawing in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 58Female wood duck
Image 59Northern mockingbird in a "tail up" display in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 60Male house sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 61Female American redstart in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 62Eastern wood pewee in Prospect Park
Image 63Northern flicker looking out from its nest in the Central Park North Woods
Image 64Killdeer at the South Cape May Meadows
Image 65Male brown-headed cowbird in Prospect Park
Image 66Red-tailed hawk rescue
Image 67A rescued American kestrel that couldn't be released so is now serving as an "ambassador" bird
Image 68Red-necked phalarope at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 69Lesser yellowlegs in Queens, NYC
Image 70American oystercatcher family portrait on Fort Tilden beach
Image 71Gray catbird in Prospect Park
Image 72Palm warbler in a meadow in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 73Ring-billed gull in a rainbow over Niagara Falls
Image 74American avocet fishing in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 75Gray catbird in Central Park
Image 76American avocet
Image 77Palm warbler in a meadow in Brooklyn, NY
Image 78Mute swan cygnet pontoon on a duckweed-covered pond
Image 79Least sandpiper in breeding plumage in Queens, NYC
Image 80House sparrow mother with chicks
Image 81Tree swallow on a nest box in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 82Cedar waxwing in pokeweed in Prospect Park
Image 83Pine siskin in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 84Brown thrasher (snow-nosed variety) in Central Park
Image 85American goldfinch in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 86Ring-billed guys jockeying for position over a culvert in the Forsythe Wildlife Refuge
Image 87Common grackle in Prospect Park
Image 88Long-tailed tit by the Farmoor Reservoir, Oxford
Image 89Winter wren in Prospect Park
Image 90Tufted titmouse floofed up in Central Park
Image 91Close-up of a white-throated sparrow in Central Park
Image 92Black-capped chickadee at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 93Ovenbird in Prospect Park
Image 94Northern rough-winged swallows in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 95Female brown-headed cowbird chattering in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 96White ibis in Ocean City, New Jersey (I kind of prefer the uncropped version)
Image 97Downy woodpecker foraging in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 98Immature herring gull manipulating a clam in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 99Mourning dove perched in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Image 100Grey heron in Hyde Park, London
Image 101Semipalmated sandpiper vocalizing in Queens, NYC
Image 102Scarlet tanager eating a berry in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 103European starlings on a birdhouse on Staten Island
Image 104Warbling vireo singing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 105Palm warbler perched in Prospect Park
Image 106Male northern flicker in Manhattan, NYC
Image 107Golden-crowned kinglet at a banding station
Image 108Female hooded merganser resting on the Central Park Reservoir
Image 109Eastern kingbird on the hunt in Brooklyn, NY
Image 110Tropical kingbird in the rain by Lake Arenal
Image 111Ring-billed gull preening/bathing in Marine Park
Image 112Black-capped chickadee eating seeds in Central Park
Image 113Canada goose gosling in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 114Semipalmated plover in Queens, NYC
Image 115Western kingbird at Bush Terminal Piers Park
Image 116Ring-billed gull in Red Hook, Brooklyn
Image 117Juvenile Forster's tern calling for its parent in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 118Northern shoveler pair "shoveling" together in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 119Common grackle showing off its iridescence in Central Park
Image 120First-winter American herring gull, Brooklyn
Image 121Piping plover chick in Queens
Image 122Northern waterthrush in Central Park
Image 123Northern mockingbird on a fence in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Image 124Lincoln's sparrow in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 125Nashville warbler with a caterpillar in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Image 126Yellow-rumped warbler on a pond in Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Image 127White-breasted nuthatch doing its nuthatchy pose in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 128Blackpoll warbler in a flowering dogwood tree in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 129Mandarin duck drake in eclipse plumage in Royal Lazienki Park
Image 130Immature cooper's hawk in Prospect Park
Image 131American woodcock in Bryant Park
Image 132Western tanager which popped up in NYC, far from its usual range
Image 133Eastern wood pewee in Central Park
Image 134White-breasted nuthatch on a suet feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 135Lesser yellowlegs at the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 136Ruby-crowned kinglet in Brooklyn, NY
Image 137Anna's hummingbird in Pacifica, California
Image 138Rehabilitated eastern screech owl
Image 139Cedar waxwing in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 140Short-billed dowitcher in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 141Green heron in Prospect Park
Image 142Northern cardinal female in Central Park
Image 143Red-tailed hawk, fearsome predator
Image 144Male northern cardinal in Central Park
Image 145Blue jay fledgling calling for its parent in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 146Three ring-billed gulls in Red Hook
Image 147Juvenile eastern kingbird
Image 148White-throated sparrow in Prospect Park
Image 149Juvenile yellow-bellied sapsucker in Prospect Park
Image 150Juvenile American robin
Image 151Palm warbler in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 152American robin making a dog whistle-like alarm call in Prospect Park
Image 153Gray catbird watching a hawk fly overhead in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 154House sparrows in Central Park
Image 155Female Blackburnian warbler in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 156Great egret stabbing the water in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 157Male black-throated green warbler in Prospect Park
Image 158House finch with a sunflower seed at a feeder in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 159Marsh wren singing at Hammonasset Beach State Park
Image 160Pine warbler in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 161Downy woodpecker with a leaf on its nose in Prospect Park
Image 162Ruby-crowned kinglet in Green-Wood Cemetery
Image 163Golden-crowned kinglet
Image 164Black-crowned night heron in Prospect Park
Image 165Hermit thrush at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Image 166Snowy egret
Image 167Ospreys in a nest on Sandy Hook, New Jersey
Image 168Great black-backed gull in Quogue, NY
Image 169Baltimore oriole (immature/female) in Green-Wood Cemetery
 
Featured Pictures - everything else
Image 1Monarch butterfly
Image 2City Hall Station in Manhattan, abandoned since 1945 because it looked cool but didn't
Image 3Sukkah at Congregation Emanu-El of New York
Image 4Juvenile Nubian ibex on a wall at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 5Maroon Bells
Image 6An ant on golden club in the Belleplain Forest, New Jersey
Image 7Pipevine swallowtail
Image 8Fork-tailed bush katydid up close in the Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
Image 9Saint Christopher Street in Valletta
Image 10A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 11Algal mat in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 12Large milkweed bug
Image 13Bigfin reef squid at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 14Mantled howler monkey with baby in Costa Rica
Image 15Moschino fall 2014 ready-to-wear ensemble in the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibit at the Met
Image 16Male eastern amberwing dragonfly in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 17Pond sliders (red and yellow) and a river cooter fighting for basking space
Image 18Crook 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 19Frizzle sizzle
Image 20TWA Hotel
Image 21An island (with ospreys) in Trustom Pond in the fog
Image 22Abandoned building in Floyd Bennett Field
Image 23Prospect Park Vale of Cashmere covered in lesser celandine, with a leucistic white squirrel in the distance
Image 24Optical illusion on the floor of the Florence Cathedral
Image 25Hell Gate Bridge walking path on Randall's Island
Image 26Coney Island Mermaid Parade
Image 27Hell Gate Bridge
Image 28Twice-stabbed stink bug on meadow anemone
Image 29Pond sliders in Prospect Park
Image 30A mural of patients in the long-defunct Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital
Image 31California sea lion nap time at La Jolla Cove
Image 32American lady butterfly on a purple coneflower
Image 33Wonder Wheel sign on Coney Island
Image 34Proboscis bats in Alajuela Province, Costa Rica
Image 35Pearl crescent on purple coneflower
Image 36Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge East Pond
Image 37Arenal volcano
Image 38Northern elephant seals in Ano Nuevo, California
Image 39Abandoned van by Gerritsen Creek
Image 40Maroon Bells. Easily one of the most awe-inspiring natural scenes I've experienced.
Image 41Duomo Firenze terrace
Image 42Waldemarsviken in Stockholm
Image 43Coney Island Mermaid Parade (no, this is not a picture of Rhododendrites)
Image 44Eldridge Street Synagogue
Image 45Female eastern amberwing
Image 46One World Trade Center through the Oculus
Image 47Monarch butterfly
Image 48Common buckeye in Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis
Image 49Quarry in Makhtesh Ramon
Image 50Red fox kits playing in the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge
Image 51Castle Square, Warsaw
Image 52Lower Manhattan panorama
Image 53Abandoned car in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 54Razor clamshell dress from spring/summer 2001, in the Sleeping Beauties exhibition at The Met
Image 55Male monarch butterfly on Tithonia
Image 56Meadow in the Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
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 58Staszic Palace, Warsaw
Image 59Small milkweed bug in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 60Burberry rainbow cape at the Camp: Notes on Fashion exhibition
Image 61Eastern gray squirrel in Central Park
Image 62Female Huron sachem in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 63Moss-covered oak trees in the Bothe-Napa Valley State Park
Image 64Window in a cafe in San Gimignano, Italy
Image 65Alexander 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 66Daubeny's water lily
Image 67Familiar bluet in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Image 68Female pipevine swallowtail in Walland, Tennessee
Image 69Eastern chipmunk with stuffed cheeks in Prospect Park
Image 70Sunset sky over Governors Island, NYC (panorama)
Image 71The Seaside Sanatorium in Connecticut
Image 72Group photo of four pears
Image 73The Dyker Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn is known for lots of elaborate Christmas lights, earning the nickname "Dyker Lights"
Image 74Coleus
Image 75Immature male blue dasher
Image 76Condenser at the defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station
Image 77Comme des Garcons at the Met
Image 78White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel perched on a tree in Brooklyn
Image 79Red admiral butterfly on purple coneflower in Brooklyn Bridge Park
Image 80White (leucistic) eastern gray squirrel with a peanut
Image 81Glass 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 82Chinese mantis ootheca in Marine Park, Brooklyn
Image 83Nine-banded armadillo in Costa Rica
Image 84Defunct Chestnut Hill Pumping Station in Boston
Image 85Meadow in the morning in the Great Smoky Mountains (with namesake smoke)
Image 86Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Katowice
Image 87Bow Bridge in Central Park (panorama)
Image 88Two juvenile Nubian ibex
Image 89Composite of a clementine with/without peel
Image 90Pier 66 and Hudson Yards
Image 91Ship 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 92Panorama of the Apennine Colossus in Tuscany
Image 93Lincoln Center during Pride at dusk
Image 94Makhtesh Ramon
Image 95Raccoon in Central Park
Image 96Red-legged grasshopper feeding on a flower in Tennessee
Image 97Florence seen from the Duomo terrace
Image 98Camp: Notes on Fashion at the Met
Image 99Fulton Center skylight
Image 100A cavapoo dog chasing a malipoo dog with a ball
Image 101Groundhog eating a tulip poplar in Brooklyn
Image 102Great golden digger wasp in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 103Magnolia x veitchii bud
Image 104Open Ocean exhibit at Monterey Bay Aquarium
Image 105Male elephant seal resting between fights in Ano Nuevo
Image 106Eastern cicada killer perched on a black-eyed susan
Image 107Clouded sulphur in Brooklyn, NYC
Image 108Green iguana panorama in Palm Beach County
Image 109Fork-tailed bush katydid close-up in Walland, Tennessee
Image 110Strawberry poison dart frog in Costa Rica
Image 111Tiger bee fly
Image 112Rooftop farm on the Lower East Side
Image 113Bluebells in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 114Rice paper butterfly with light shining through in Butterfly World, Florida
Image 115Panorama of the once-active waterfront of Sunset Park, Brooklyn
Image 116Redbeckia occidentalis
Image 117Jun Takahashi dress for Undercover in the Sleeping Beauties exhibition at the Met
Image 118Bee balm seedhead
Image 119Toronto Reference Library interior from the top floor
Image 120Hudson Yards in New York, taken from the top of Hudson Commons (9-frame panorama)
Image 121Northern flatid planthopper nymph
Image 122Eastern amberwing
Image 123Red squirrel in Lazienki Park
Image 124Eastern cottontail portrait in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 125Black Lives Matter mural in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Image 126Stata Center at MIT
Image 127A [pretty dodgy] bridge along a cliff path at the edge of Makhtesh Ramon
Image 128Male zabulon skipper in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 129Hell Gate Bridge, with a scow being towed along the Hell Gate section of the East River
Image 130Monarch butterfly caterpillar on butterfly weed
Image 131Crocuses in early spring.
Image 132Sasheer Zamata at a Time's Up event during the Tribeca Film Festival
Image 133Memorial to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting, taken just after Stonewall Inn was designated part of a National Monument
Image 134Baird's tapir mother with baby in Costa Rica
Image 135Boston Public Garden
Image 136Orchard orbweaver
Image 137Oculus
Image 138Male familiar bluet
Image 139Ash tree behind a columbarium in Mount Auburn Cemetery
Image 140Salix catkins
Image 141Manhattan at night, looking north from Rockefeller Center
Image 142Blue dasher with Arrenurus water mites in Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Image 143Male tiger swallowtail butterfly in Central Park (missing its tails)
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
Image 145Triq San Patrizju facing the Basilica Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta, Malta
Image 146Quogue Village Wetlands Preserve
Image 147Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco (18-frame panorama)
Image 148Sarracenia leucophylla
Image 149Cattlianthe Gold Digger ‘Orglade's Mandarin’ orchid
Image 150Northern dog-day cicaca exuvia on a flower in Green-Wood Cemetery