step 1 of 5
To make spokes for a guide, I used the single column marquee tool on a layer. Then I copied that layer and rotated it 5 degrees. A few more copy/rotates, I then merged those layers, duplicated it and rotated that layer. I continued doing that until I had a complete circle.
step 2 of 5
I used the pen tool, fill bucket, the ruler, grid and elliptical and rectangular marquee tools to make the shapes. The smart guides allowed me to align the shapes with each other.
step 3 of 5
By moving the center crosshair, I was able to swing the shape into the position I wanted.
step 4 of 5
This is an example of how the spokes helped me to place the shapes at equal distances.
step 5 of 5
Here is an example of how the grid allowed me to create perfect shapes. By creating one shape and then copying it, then merging the copies, I was able to make a new shape.
Final result
