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