Bemidji State grad student Griffin Blegen blends love of outdoors and photography.

Griffin Blegen has been astounded by the images he has been able to capture using underwater camera gear he purchased with help from a Region 2 Arts Council grant.

With funds from a Region 2 Arts Council artist support grant, he recently purchased equipment for underwater photography. In his first full year with the gear, Blegen has been astounded by the images he has been able to capture.

Blegen’s love of photography started when he was about 8 years old. He and his twin sister were given point-and-shoot cameras by their parents.

“They told us to take pictures of whatever we wanted,” he said. “I just remember going on family trips and bringing the camera. I think I remember trying to compose pictures, but when you’re 8, anything looks good.”

Now Blegen owns the kind of high-end camera needed for professional photography. He also has set up trail cameras to get close-ups of wildlife. He shows his work on Facebook, Instagram and his website, griffin-blegen-photography.squarespace.com, and has been selling calendars that showcase his photos for the past few years.

After grad school, Blegen hopes to forge a career that includes both biology and photography.

“It’s kind of up in the air,” he said. “Because I really like doing this, I would want to take pictures for a living. But it’s obviously not that easy. There’s a guy who takes pictures for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"That would be cool to just go around and take pictures and you’re still in the biology sphere. That would be ideal, but there’s not many of those positions out there. Or it could be I’m just a biologist and I take pictures on the side.”

Read the entire article here. Credit to The Bemidji Pioneer for the written article.