There is a part of Oregon that no one will ever see with their own eyes. It is filled with wolves, foxes, bears and other creatures undisturbed by human activity. In fact, it is the very absence of humans that defines this unseen world.

Fortunately, there is a window into untamed Oregon provided by dedicated folks who take to the wilderness looking to capture images with remote cameras. There are two types of people who set up “camera traps”: those looking to survey species, like the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and those looking to create intimate portraits of wild animals, like Jonny Armstrong, a fish ecology professor at Oregon State University.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

A native of Ashland who grew up playing in the Oregon woods, Armstrong had a longstanding interest in photography when he went to work on his Ph.D in Alaska in 2011. He began looking into new lighting techniques for his images and was drawn to portraiture, but “I wasn’t really interested in people,” he said.

Employing antennae used for tracking fish as part of his studies, coupled with control boards from Radio Shack and infrared sensors, Armstrong began fashioning his own rudimentary camera traps. Seven years later, Armstrong has produced some incredibly striking images of animals in their natural habitat, both in Oregon and around the world. In the photo above, he is setting up a rig in Kenya in the hopes of catching a leopard.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

And here is the result.

To get photos like this takes a mix of knowledge and patience. There are two competing values in setting up these kind of shots: you want a scene that will be striking in its composition, but you need to set up the camera trap where animals are likely to cross in front of the lens. Pursuing one often gets you less of the other, Armstrong said, so finding that middle ground is key.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

The equipment itself is relatively minimal, Armstrong said. Beginners can essentially get themselves a camera, a radio trigger and a flash, affix all that to a tree and hope for the best. “You don’t need a ton of expensive gear to get into camera trapping,” he said. “And it’s a great way to discover the wildlife that we have here in Oregon.”

Armstrong’s rig is a little fancier these days as he has two different types of triggers and will sometimes use up to five flashes to light his subjects just right, as seen in the following shots he caught of a rare fisher.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Don't Edit

One of the joys of camera trapping, Armstrong said, is that you never know what you’re going to get. A memory card could hold any number of critters, like the gray fox captured below.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Or this ringtail cat, a species rarely seen by people outside of zoos.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

And without the benefit of a remote trigger, it would likely be difficult to get a black bear to hold this pose.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Of course, when there’s no person there to decide when to release the shutter, you will get some outtakes, like when this bear barged through Armstrong’s setup that he left in hope of catching a fisher.

Don't Edit

Jonny Armstrong

Don't Edit

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife

The other type of camera trapping is far more utilitarian, and thus, the images are less striking. Still, the importance of the images can’t be overstated as wildlife biologists with the state use the pictures to guide species counts for endangered species, like gray wolves, and thus inform policy meant to protect them.

These candid photos can do more than just give a population estimate, though. A wolf’s positioning while it urinates can tell biologists if it is male or female, alpha or beta and photographs can also gives clues as to whether a female is breeding.

Don't Edit

This unidentified member of the the Walla Walla Pack was captured by a remote camera in northern Umatilla County on Jan. 21, 2017.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

An unidentified wolf from the Wenaha Pack as seen by a remote camera in northern Wallowa County on Sept. 21, 2016.

Don't Edit

Members of the Snake River pack traverse a snowy hillside in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area as captured by a remote camera photo Feb. 1, 2017.

Don't Edit

Members of the Snake River pack traverse a snowy hillside in the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area as captured by a remote camera photo Feb. 1, 2017.

Don't Edit

These wolverines (experts believe them to be two different individuals) were photographed in the Wallowa Mountains of northeast Oregon in April 2011.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

OR7, perhaps Oregon’s most famous wolf, on public land in western Klamath County on Oct. 23, 2016.

Don't Edit

OR3 and a pup of the Silver Lake wolves as captured by a remote camera in western Lake County on June 22, 2016, courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Two pups from the Rogue Pack were caught on remote cameras in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest on July 12, 2016, courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

OR7 at age 7 as seen by a remote camera June 8, 2016 in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.

Don't Edit

Two adult wolves from the Walla Walla Pack were caught on remote trail camera Jan. 16, 2016 in northern Umatilla County.

Don't Edit

A wolf from the Snake River Pack trots past a remote camera in eastern Wallowa County on Dec. 4, 2014.

Don't Edit

An unidentified adult wolf passes by a remote camera photo taken in western Lake County on Dec. 8, 2015.

Don't Edit

A cougar in the Indigo Wildlife Management Unit in early 2015.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

A black bear happens by a camera in the Indigo Wildlife Management Unit in January 2015.

Don't Edit

An unidentified adult wolf from the Wenaha pack walks along a road in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in Wallowa County on June 8, 2011.

Don't Edit

A pup from northeast Oregon’s Wenaha pack, born in spring 2011, as seen by remote camera on Dec. 11, 2011.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

The eyes of a gray wolf are illuminated by remote camera on July 20, 2012 on private timberland in the Washboard Ridge area north of Enterprise.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

From left, a 2-year-old male and the alpha female of the Imnaha pack, as seen by a trail camera in the Wallowa Whitman National Forest, Wallowa County, on June 22, 2011.

Don't Edit

Three pups in the newly formed Mt. Emily pack as seen by a remote camera on July 21, 2013.

Don't Edit

A 3-year-old radio-collared male from the Imnaha wolf pack walks across a hillside.

Don't Edit

Five wolf pups from the Imnaha pack, around 2.5 months old, were photographed by a remote camera on July 7, 2013.

Don't Edit

OR11, the male of the newly formed Mt. Emily pair, looks toward a remote camera on June 27, 2013. OR11 was radio-collared as a pup in the Walla Walla pack in 2011, but his collar failed in January 2013.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

OR4, the breeding male of the Imnaha Pack, as photographed by a remote camera on May 18, 2013.

Don't Edit

A subadult Wenaha wolf stretches in the snow in front of a remote camera in the Wenaha Wildlife Management Unit on April 13, 2013.

Don't Edit

Remote camera pictures of the Minam wolf pack in Eagle Cap Wilderness of Wallowa County. Photos taken Dec. 14, 2012.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

A wolf in the Mt. Emily Unit of Umatilla County.

Don't Edit