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