As the May 2011 Conjunction of the Planets rolled on, the planets were getting closer together culminating in their closest approach on the 12th and 13th of May.

These images were captured on the 12th May at Bateau Bay Beach, a place I had scoped out earlier while doing some wedding shoot preparation for Kristy and Matt’s wedding.

Planetary Reflections at Bateau Bay Beach

The morning was clear and crisp, but to be honest, the sky was kind of dull – not a single cloud in the sky which made the foreground aspect even more important – there was nothing else in the sky (except the planets) to add to the drama or depth of the scene. Unfortunately my head lamp had run out of batteries and I didn’t check it before leaving home (a lesson well learned!), so I stumbled around in the dark trying to find an interesting foreground object.

Blue Reflections

After stepping in puddles and getting wet socks, I finally found an area I could capture reflections of the planets and some ripples in the sand from the outgoing tide.

The lack of clouds really prevented any real colours coming out – the whole sky and water felt really “blue” that morning.

Feeling Cold and Blue

The last image doesn’t feature the conjunction, but I did love the ripples in the sand so here’s a bonus image.

Ripples on the Shore

All in all, I’m not overly happy with these images and was hoping for a bit more, but they capture the scene I was presented on that morning.

Thanks for looking.