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