Rest & Relaxation at Jen & Kip’s

The California Ranch style homes of the 1950’s are a design I enjoy.  Our friends Jen & Kip have taken that design and nurtured and extended their home into a place offering an almost unparalleled haven for rest and relaxation.

Jen & Kip were planning a trip for the end of September and early October. They offered their home to me such that it could act as a gathering point for a family reunion.  Their home is located on the Carmel River in the Carmel River Valley of California.  The Carmel River Valley is one of my favorite places in the world. The quick and short story… offer accepted!

The interior of Jen & Kip’s home is warm, elegant and inviting. It is finished with superb personal touches.  So as not to be too intrusive, I decided against capturing images of the interior of Jen & Kip’s home.  However, the interior of the home is worthy of a full spread in a magazine.  The difference might be, in this place people actually live in it day-to-day.

The Grounds

The Flowers

The Birds

*** Jeff’s Thoughts and Other Worthless Trivia ***

The property is about an acre in size and practically all of it is landscaped.  Jen & Kip have a garden and we were treated to fresh tomatoes and zucchini.

Birds and bird feeders abound.  We fed them.  So much fun.

My brother Roger – who loves to photograph wildlife – noticed a couple of White-tailed Kite high in the trees at Jen & Kip’s property line. He alerted me to the fact and asked me to join in. Luckily, I had brought my photo-gear for capturing images of wildlife.

Roger and I maneuvered to a spot that offered a clear shot of the birds. It was late afternoon and the sun advancing towards the horizon offered a more golden effect on the image.  I was able to capture a number of images.

The bird photos were captured with a Nikon Z9 using the Nikon Z f2.8 Telephoto Prime lens of 400MM and 560MM.  I also added the Nikon Z 2x Teleconverter (effectively 1120MM) for the Kite captures. 

The Grounds and Flower images were captured using the PHASEONE IQ151 with XF Body and PHASEONE Blue Line F3.5 35MM lens.

I shoot in manual configuration. This approach versus using the Camera’s Auto Program modes can be time consuming and lead to missed opportunities.  However, in my experience, this approach yields to materially more compelling image captures.  I like to capture images as I see/experience them, and this approach allows me to do so more effectively.