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