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