Behind the Lens: Through the looking glass

By Doug Gimesy | 19 May 2026

Thought extinct in Victoria until recently, when I got the call to drive 300kms to Kerang on a 43°C day to hopefully photograph the Southern purple-spotted gudgeon (Mogurnda adspersa), I jumped at the chance.

For those who don’t know anything about this fish, and I’m sure you’re not alone, it’s a slow-moving freshwater fish native to Australia, that’s about 6–12 cm in length.

Now I’m not an underwater photographer, but given they live in murky water with a visibility range of about 5cm, and being super rare, I knew finding one and taking an image in situ would never really be an option.

So, we decided the best strategy would be to photograph one that the ecologists had already collected as part of their catch-and-release research, by briefly placing it in a portable fish tank and taking some shots before it was released back into the wild.

For the cleanest results, a few key setup details matter: use very clean water; place the tank on a white base so it acts as a reflector and creates a gentle light gradient; position the camera directly front-on and mount it on a tripod; and manually set focus just inside the front glass to keep the subject sharp. Lock exposure and lighting settings in manual beforehand, have someone ready to wipe away splashes, and slightly overexpose the background (around one stop) so it blows out to white and hides minor floating debris.

Being such a rare and unknown animal, I really wanted the viewer to focus primarily on the fish. However, I also wanted to give the fish some sense of place, a sense of being in water.

So, to do this I decided to apply a technique that was inspired by my friend Alex Wiles’ magnificent Floodplain series, where the result is that the fish is not only seen on a white background, but the viewer also sneaks a side glimpse of the water/air interface in which the fish is swimming.

While the final shot was a little rushed, I’m happy with the results. If I was doing it again though, I think I’d consider trying it on a black background, using a touch of dramatic side lighting, just to potentially add mood as well as a more dynamic feel of depth – no aquatic pun intended!