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