• Astronomy and Photography by Mike Salway

23rd February 2009

Photos of the Moon, Jupiter, Mercury & Mars Conjunction


I just love Moon and Planet conjunctions, and I just love early morning photography. When the two combine that’s when I hope to create something special. On the morning of the 23rd February, a beautiful conjunction rose in the pre-dawn sky. The Crescent Moon with earthshine on display shone brilliantly in the East as it was joined by three other celestial bodies, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars to give a sense of depth and feeling to the morning skies.

For ages last night I sat in bed wondering where to go to photograph this marvellous sight… wondering if it would be cloudy, would it be clear, would the skies provide the same dramatic scenery as I was presented for the Smiley Face Conjunction, would I remember the spare batteries, my tripod, the remote switch, would the alarm wake me up or would I sleep through it?!

Luckily, everything came together for a beautiful morning of photography and I was able to capture some stunning images of the Moon, Jupiter, Mercury and Mars conjunction. 

Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars Conjunction at Dawn

Moon, Mercury, Jupiter and Mars Conjunction at Dawn

The image above is my favourite from the session, and was taken with the Canon 20D and Sigma 17-70mm lens @ 33mm, f/5.6, 2.0s exposure @ ISO800.

Please continue reading below to see more photos of the conjunction gracing the lovely morning skies.

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posted in Astrophotography, Photography, Popular | 48 Comments

20th February 2009

From the Vault: Long Jetty Sunset

In the From the Vault series, I feature an older image which hasn’t been seen here before and I talk about the capture and processing and hopefully highlight why this image is special to me.

The feature image in From the Vault this week is titled Long Jetty Sunset and has long been one of my favourite sunset images. You know those days when you’re out to photograph a sunrise or a sunset, and the clouds are just right.. the water is just right.. the reflections are just right, and everything is how you imagined it would be.

Long Jetty Sunset

Long Jetty Sunset

The old crusty boat filled with seaweed, the family walking along the wharf, the lovely golden reflections off the hand rail and the beautiful sunset colours and clouds reflecting off the water really make this image stand out to me.

Please read on to learn more about this image and to see more photos from the session.

Read the rest of this entry »

posted in Photography | 1 Comment

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  • My name is Mike Salway and I'm an amateur astronomer and photographer. I'm the co-founder of IceInSpace, and this is my personal blog site and image gallery.
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