Pastoral landscapes are the landscapes of quieter places and, in many ways, they make trickier subjects for the photographer because these are not the rugged landscapes of mountain peaks, sweeping prairies, monumental geology, raging torrents or dramatic seas. Pastoral landscapes are rural but, from the right viewpoint, there is no reason why your local park cannot be portrayed as ‘pastoral’.
The tradition of genuine pastoral landscapes as opposed to imagined landscapes really began with Constable, Gainsborough and Turner and, at first, the work was soundly rejected by the art establishment. One of Constable’s paintings was once famously described as ‘a nasty green thing’ and that’s one of the key technical challenges here. ... How do you portray so much green without it becoming merely bland or a nasty green thing. Changing light, subtlety and gradations of punctuated colour often work best but keep it ‘pastoral’ ... and keep it 'landscape'.
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