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