I went back to Newtownards, I parked my car which is pretty much where the site is. My methodology for this site was to start shooting straight away. My thinking being that the landscape leading up to the airfield would have had great significance to the placement of it. The lighting was just right tonight, soft diffused light from the cloud cover as the sun sets. I started to investigate the landscape that surrounded the airfield, selecting views that perhaps that the pilots/personnel would have seen all those years ago. I still shot on a tripod with a longer exposure, as I like to capture any movements from the foliage in the wind. At this point detail is still important to me, I want the viewer to be able to scan the entire image and make out all the detail that I have framed.
I have still included the buildings of course as that’s my project! But this time I have focused a little more on what the site has become, this area is now a peaceful walk along the coast line. On the other side is still an active airfield, which I have included this time in this shoot. Before I did have access to the airfield, but I don’t think it matters so much this time as I have included the landscape more. Whilst I was shooting I thought I would still like to continue using a square crop (even though using a digital camera) so thought about this when selecting the frame of the area and what to include or not. In edit I cropped my images to a square format, which I am quite pleased with, I think it works. By not having the width of the image you are drawn into the frame I have selected. As a body of work, I think it looks aesthetically pleasing, maybe more systematic or coherent. I will continue this approach to my next site and see where it leads me.
Critical Research Journal 