I’m a late-adopter of most technologies. Nearly 40 years old before my first camera; last among my friends to give in to email and cell phone. No different in the world of moving pictures. In education, I remember Clay Good’s dictum to his phone-wired highschoolers: stills, but no movies. In his experience, video viewing and making sucked kids into a subjective vortex. When instead, they backed into the ‘old-fashioned’ technology of still photos, a more observant mindset emerged.

That was at least a decade ago. Today (2018), the triumph of selfies has warped our teens’ relationship to stills. In the seesaw-&-wratchet of technology, anything we do too much of is dulling. The trick is to stay fresh—to keep searching for each tool’s noblest use—and to desist from pounding screws with hammers.

I was lured into video by drones—one technology I jumped into rather early. I just knew that watching forests and streams pass below from Raven-strafing level would be mesmerizing. Hard to imagine one could tire of that.

And then there’s motioncams. What a revelation—to learn what critters do when we’re not there!  For me, video is currently a spice. Not the main course, but a tasty complement to more and more of my documentary efforts. Some of the older vimeo-posts linked below are composed strictly of still images, assembled into narrated slideshows, but using pan and zoom for some of the features we associate with “moving pictures.”

Oh yeah, and speaking of the rapidity of technological change, it’s already pretty amusing—that ‘poster’ for my 2015 video below called New technologies for old naturalists. The drone in that photo already looks about as “new” as a Model-T Ford.

In this section

Junco life history

Lentfer audio-visual dark-eyes My friend Hank (Henry) Lentfer is using a combination of high-quality sound recording and high-res remote-control telephotography…

2020 | Hank Lentfer | 4 minutes

Seasonal re-photography

Repeat photography for study of seasonal change Until 1988 I abstained from cameras, content with pencil sketching and pen-&-ink illustration.…

2020 | Richard Carstensen | 3.5 minute video & 63-page pdf

Spring trumpeters

Northbound swans, Áak’w Táak, inland from little lake (M-word Valley) April 4th, 2020. For the past week or more, birders…

2020 | Richard Carstensen | 3-minute video

Glacial & cultural history of northern Lingít Aaní

A fireside presentation My talk at the Visitor Center in February, 2020 explored the past 20,000 years of glaciation and…

2020 | Richard Carstensen | 27 minutes

Exploring middle Kax̱digoowu Héen

Going back clearwater (Montana Creek) In late May, 2019, Discovery naturalist Steve Merli and I explored the middle reaches of…

2019 | Richard Carstensen | 5-minute slideshow

Mid-May on Shaa Tlaax

Goats, geology & zonation on Shaa Tlaax, moldy top (Mt Juneau) Video-journal of the flora, fauna, and geomorphology that hikers…

2019 | Richard Carstensen | 4 minutes

2019 UAS commencement: honorary degree

Thoughts on wildness, and the scientific method On May 5th, 2019, I received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from…

2019 | Richard Carstensen | 9-minute video

Kaxdigoowu Héen (Montana Creek): presentation for SEAL Trust

Slideshow in two parts Kaxdigoowu Héen, going back clearwater has been one of my favorite places since I first explored…

2019 | Richard Carstensen & John Hudson | slide show in 2 parts: 38 & 22 minutes

Heron fishing

Cathy Pohl filmed this great blue heron fishing for crescent gunnels on the delta of Dzantik’i Héeni, little flounder creek…

2018 | Richard Carstensen | 1 page

Staff hike in Dzantik’i Héeni basin

On a sleety December 11th, 2018, Discovery Southeast staff (and Clay Good, board) hiked together in the lower valley of…

2018 | Richard Carstensen | 7 minutes

Áak’w & T’aakú Aaní: the natural history of resilience

Presentation for Evening at Egan On November 9th, 2018, I gave the second in a series of 4 lectures for…

Nov, 2018 | Richard Carstensen | 36 minutes

Flight at Asx’ée, twisted tree (Eagle River)

In late October, the meandery delta channels at Asx‘ée, twisted tree (Eagle River) are pretty ‘used-up.’ Salmon season is mostly…

2015 | Richard Carstensen | 1 minute

Bear-Lawson flight

Quadcopter views behind Anax Yei Andagan Yé, where the sun’ rays hit first (Douglas, harbor area)  Launched from divide between…

January, 2016 | Richard Carstensen | 3 minutes

Windy moonrise

Experiments filming moonrise on a cold, windy February day in Juneau, Alaska. Includes segment with great blue heron, trying to…

2017 | Richard Carstensen | 2 minutes

Skiing at Spaulding Meadows

Skiing at Spaulding Meadows, above Auke Bay. spaulding from Discovery Southeast JuneauNature on Vimeo.

2017 | Richard Carstensen |

Bog visit on Sayeik (Douglas Island)

Tracking from skis on fresh snow in deer-&-hare country, Sayéik, spirit helper (Douglas Island). douglasbogs from Discovery Southeast JuneauNature on…

2017 | Richard Carstensen | 96 seconds

Behrends avalanche

Three days after an avalanche came down Behrends Slide, near Juneau, Alaska, I went up for some raven’s-eye perspectives. The…

2017 | Richard Carstensen | 2.5 minutes

Natural history of Kupreanof

Introduction to the natural and cultural history of Aansadaak’w, the town before (Kupreanof), hosted on the City’s vimeo site along…

2017 | Richard Carstensen | 20 minutes

White-fronted geese

Coming home from Hoonah in late April, 2015, Cathy and I swung out to the Industrial Boulevard wetland access to…

2015 | Richard Carstensen & Catherine Pohl | 10 seconds

Amalga flight

Low-elevation views of the Amalga Salt Chuck and the Eagle Valley Center, under renovation in spring, 2017. amalgaflight from Discovery…

2017 | Richard Carstensen | 3 minutes