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