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
@Antisomniac

[gallery] (FP-VI-QI)

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