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