Caves Beach – Milky Way Planet

Caves Beach is an idyllic suburb on the Swansea Peninsula near Lake Macquarie. The coastline is picturesque; a mixture of rocky shores and sandy beaches and includes a breakwater that was constructed to load ships, but never used. For this shoot I chose a part of the beach that is rocky, wild, and rugged, with a lovely headland cutting into the surf to the south.

Thanks to the low levels of light pollution, quiet beaches, and crisp clean air I have visited Caves Beach many times to practice and develop my Star Trails and Milky Way imaging techniques. For this piece I shot while the Gibbous Moon was rising overhead to give the beach and headland lots of illumination. A small fast wave racing up the beach gave the water a beautiful, energetic feel. I illuminated some of the rocks on the beach with coloured torch light, and then captured the winter Milky Way to complete the image.