BEMIDJI, Minn. — Griffin Blegen isn’t certain about his future career, but you can bet it will include the two things he is most passionate about: the outdoors and photography.
Blegen, 23, is a graduate student at Bemidji State University. He is furthering his degree in wildlife biology and aquatic biology while partnering with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources in a study of the emerald bowfin, also known as dogfish. All the while, Blegen is honing his photography skills, capturing stunning images of wildlife, both in and out of the water.
Griffin Blegen captured this photo of a male emerald bowfin (dogfish) while snorkeling in the Mississippi River in the summer of 2024. Coincidentally, Blegen is studying the emerald bowfin for a graduate program at Bemidji State University. (Courtesy of Griffin Blegen)
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.
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As a former standout swimmer at Brainerd High School, he’s no stranger to water. But that didn’t matter the first time he tried out his underwater photo gear last April. He went to the Power Dam east of Bemidji, where suckers were running in the Mississippi River along with northern pike and walleyes.
“At that point, the water was too cold for me to get in, and I didn’t even have a wetsuit,” Blegen said. “So I went to Home Depot and bought a 10-foot PVC pole, put the camera on the end of the pole, stuck it in the water, and put it on interval (mode) so it took a picture every 10 to 15 seconds.”
After about 30 minutes, the fish were no longer spooked by the camera, and the resulting images were just what Blegen was hoping for.
“The fish would swim right past the camera, and then it was just a matter of chance,” he said. “I was super happy. It was the first day I got the camera in the water.”
The first time Griffin Blegen used his underwater photo equipment, he captured this image of northern pike and white suckers in the Mississippi River near Bemidji, Minn. in April 2024. Because the water was so cold and he had no wet suit, Blegen improvised by using a PVC pole to submerge the equipment. (Courtesy of Griffin Blegen)
A few other underwater efforts ensued, with mixed results. Sometimes the fish just didn’t cooperate. But it was a return visit to the Mississippi River that produced Blegen’s most memorable images. He calls it his first “wow” moment.
Blegen climbed into his kayak, with flippers, mask and snorkel at the ready.
“The water was really clear and there were a lot of fish,” he said. “I was just kind of kayaking down the river, just looking around. And I could see him way up in the shallow water.”
The “him” was a bowfin, the very fish Blegen is studying for school and the DNR.
“I thought there’s no way this is happening right now,” he said. “Those fish, a lot of people don’t like them. But I think they’re very interesting. The males are very protective of their young. I was probably 10 feet from the male, and he beelined straight out to me. And he hit the dome port on my camera, then went back.
“I just held the trigger down as he was swimming up. He kept coming back. I thought, ‘What are the chances that a fish is curious enough to come this close to me, and it’s the fish that I’m studying for school?’”
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.”
He upgraded to a better digital camera when he was in high school.
“I mainly got it to bring in the boat with me if I caught a nice fish,” he said. “I didn’t want to use my phone, so I had a nice photo to show people. Then it just kind of grew and snowballed from there.”
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.
Griffin Blegen’s trail camera caught this white-tailed deer in the Chippewa National Forest in Nov. 2024. (Courtesy of Griffin Blegen)
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.”
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