He gets up close and personal with some of the fiercest predators in Yellowstone. Or at least his cameras do.

For photographer Ronan Donovan camera trapping is an art, and designing the setups with animal behavior patterns in mind can require creativity, patience, and determination. On assignment for National Geographic‘s 2016 issue on Yellowstone, he rolled up his sleeves, refused to give up, and captured amazing images of bears and wolves in their natural habitat.

Bears are naturally curious omnivores that tend to “lick everything,” Donovan says, and one of the biggest challenges in setting camera traps for them is what he calls “camera carnage.” Wolves, on the other hand, are much more elusive—and much harder to pin down.

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