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