Turn Style: Earth Day In California the Beautiful

A park in Santa Rosa, CA

Post and All Photos By: Jeff McKown

Nothing inspires and stirs us like the majesty of the wilderness. 

The spectacular and vast: canyons, forests, prairies, oceans, mountaintops. 

The simple and profound: waves lapping at the shore, a gathering of deer on a hillside, the petals of a single flower.

When we stumble on a breathtaking hillside or gaze into a clear starlit night sky, when we look up from our work long enough to see a hummingbird outside our window, anytime nature captures us in that frozen moment of stunned reverie, we strengthen our connection to the universe and to each other.

Whatever the scenery in your tiny corner of the universe, take a moment to go outside. Close your eyes and breathe deep. Tilt your head back - taste a snowflake, feel the raindrops on your forehead, let the sun warm your cheeks.

It doesn't matter what you find outside your door. We'll all sleep beneath the same big moon tonight.

Happy Earth Day.



Here are some of my favorite places in nature. I took these photos in the last two years at locations all within a 2-3 hour drive from my home in northern California.

Big Sur

Eaton Park Trail

Muir Woods and Muir Woods Beach Overlook

San Gregorio, Half Moon Bay, Marin Headlands

Monterey Bay and Ocean Beach/San Francisco

Turn Style: The Progression of Spring

Posted By: Jeff McKown

Received a lovely gift of "unborn" daffodils this week (thanks Kyle!), and I decided to photograph their birth and share the wonder.


Two Days Ago

Yesterday

Today

Turn Style: Best Book Jackets of 2012

Posted By: Jeff McKown

Flavorwire.com has polled a group of book jacket designers and published their picks for "best" book covers of 2012. My picks for best and worst from their list are below. I'd love to hear which ones you like or don't like, and any great book jackets from last year you think were left off the list.

Click here to see all the jackets the experts selected (but don't, of course, judge the books by their covers).

My favorite from the list: The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus
(concept flames, symmetry, color, three-dimensional)

And my least favorite from the list: NW by Zadie Smith
(surely more refined artistic eyes see something special, I see two letters)

As a bonus, here is one of my all-time favorite book jackets. The book is My War Gone By, I Miss It So, a poignant chronicle of the horrors of the war in Bosnia published in 1999 with stunning prose by British journalist and self-proclaimed war junkie Anthony Loyd.

Turn Style - 10 Top Photos of Olympic Triumph, Defeat, and Originality

With five days under our collective Olympic belt, we've already been treated to an abundance of jubilantly triumphant moments, as well as several instances of crushing defeat.

Here are a few photos that best capture the joy, the anguish, and sometimes just the most unique moments of the 2012 Olympics.

The Triumphant

Chad le Clos, South African Gold Medalist
Photo: Toby Melville / Reuters

South Korean Choi Byungchul - Fencing
Photo: Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

Michael Phelps and team win 4x100 Relay
Photo: David Gray / Reuters

More photos of herculean athletic efforts here.

The Defeated

Colombian weightlifter Lina Rivas
Photo: Stefano Rellandini / Reuters

New Zealand's Chris Wood tumbles on the pitch
Photo: Alessandro Garofalo / Reuters

Ksenila Afanseva - Russian gymnast
Photo: Michael Blake / Reuters

More Olympic blunders here.

The Original

Opening Ceremony
Photo: Marko Djurica / Reuters

First female Saudi Arabian Olympian ever
Photo: Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters

South Korean archer (and secret superhero?) Lee Sung Jin
Photo: Suhaib Salem / Reuters

Venus Williams - sporting the USA hairdo
Photo: Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters

Other interesting images from the 2012 Olympic Games here.

Turn Style - London's Mayor Stuck On Zip Line

Go Team GB!
Photo: Rebecca Denton / Twitter

London's mayor Boris Johnson found himself stranded on a zip line during an Olympic celebration Wednesday at an East London park.

The equipment issue left the mayor hanging in midair for five minutes, during which he reportedly remained plucky and cheerful (full story and video here).

The cause of the malfunction was not immediately identified, but my money is on Romney sabotage.


Turn Style articles highlight compelling images, as well as other amusing content related to art and fashion.

Turn Style: The Earth From Above

I loved the beautiful satellite images of the Earth in this clip, but the music is what motivated me to share it. An English band called The XX provides the score for the video. I know the song has been pretty widely used, but I don't remember where. Anyway, very relaxing stuff. Enjoy.

This is Our Planet from Tomislav Safundžić on Vimeo.

Turn Style - Giant Dock From Japanese Tsunami Washes Ashore In Oregon

In March 2011, a devastating tsunami struck the coast of Japan, sweeping millions of tons of debris into the open ocean. For the last several months, some of that debris has been showing up on the Pacific Coast of the U.S.

Most impressively, this giant dock washed ashore in Oregon this week. The dock, which is 7 feet high and 66 feet long, weighs an estimated 165 tons.

Photo: Lori Tobias / The Oregonian

Photo:Oregon Parks and Recreation Dept.

Photo: Thomas Boyd / The Oregonian

Turn Style articles feature compelling photos and images, as well as other amusing content related to art and fashion.

Turn Style - American Flag Stolen From Man Wearing Chicken Suit

Is there anything about this picture that doesn't say...America? 

A thief stole an American flag from a man wearing a chicken suit
outside a Manchester, CT Boston Market restaurant.

You can read the full story here. Go ahead, click it. You know you want to.

Turn Style posts highlight compelling images and other amusing content related to art and fashion.

Big News and Fun Photos From French Open

Photo: Reuters / Gonzalo Fuentes

We're almost through the first week of the 2012 French Open, and the big news coming out of the tennis world has been the shocking first-round elimination of Serena Williams, the top-ranked American player in the women's game.

Previously, Williams sported a record of 46-0 in the opening round of the four major tournaments in tennis. 

Not to be outdone by William's quick exit, American men have been cast out of the French Open faster than day old baguettes. 

Isner (l) and Mathieu (r)
Photo: AP /Michel Eueler

America's second-highest ranked player, John Isner, was defeated today by France's Paul-Henri Mathieu in an epic match that lasted a near-record 5 hours and 41 minutes. 

With Isner's departure, no American men are left in the draw to compete in the second week of the tournament.

Oh well, we've still got some great tennis ahead next week, and we'll always have this collection of 40 fun photos from week one of this year's French Open.

Turn Style - Earthquake Stops Time In Italy

An old clock tower, damaged by last week's earthquake in Finale Emilia, Italy.
Reuters / Giorgio Benvenuti

You can click here to see more of the most unique photos taken last week.


Turn Style features highlight compelling images and other amusing content related to art and fashion.

Turn Style - Happy 75th Anniversary Golden Gate Bridge

Before I relocated to Northern California, I visited San Francisco and had the typical tourist's reaction to the architectural beauty of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I was overwhelmed by the imperial size and majesty of the bridge, and I was awestruck by the magnificent views the bridge affords of the Marin headlands to the north, and the city of San Francisco to the south.

Beneath the Golden Gate Bridge
Photo: Jeff McKown

Since I moved here, my appreciation has only grown. I've seen the Golden Gate from every possible angle now, and still, each time I make the short drive to the city, I feel a tingle of electricity when I first glimpse the bridge in the distance.

Whenever I cross the bridge, I experience the same humbling sense of infinite smallness I feel when I gaze up at the stars in a clear nighttime sky.

In the grand scheme of the wider universe, we humans may not amount to much. But while we were here on Earth, we built a glorious bridge that bestowed at least a little grace and beauty on our world.

On May 27, 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge was officially opened for business. In recognition of the 75th anniversary of the opening, the San Francisco Chronicle has published a collection of photos of the bridge in all its breathtaking splendor.

Below is a small sample of pictures from the Chronicle's archive. You can view the entire collection here.

The Marin tower of the bridge in 1935.

A worker looks on as cables are spun in 1936.

Under construction.

Opening day in 1937. Pedestrians cross
 the bridge while planes fly overhead.

Turn Style - 9 Year-Old Boy Stages Counter Protest vs. Westboro Baptist

"God Hates No One."      

You go, boy.

Turn Style - Photos of Writers In Strange Places

Tom Wolfe and Kurt Vonnegut

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So, what are unique pictures of your favorite authors worth?

Flavorwire.com has assembled a collection of interesting photographs that capture some of our greatest writers in odd circumstances and poses.

Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, Vladimir Nabokov, Maya Angelou, and more.

Click here to find more images like the pic on the left of lit giants Tom Wolfe and Kurt Vonnegut.

Turn Style articles highlight compelling images and other amusing content related to art and fashion.

Turn Style - We All Scream For Munch

Today we're launching a new regular feature on the blog called "Turn Style."

In "Turn of Phrase" articles, we feature newsworthy quotes. In "Turn Up the Sound" segments, we show off new and interesting music. We'll use the "Turn Style" header for articles that call attention to compelling photos and images, or other amusing visual content related to art and fashion.

The series leads off with an awesome picture related to the Edvard Munch's collection of paintings known as The Scream. Munch's work has been in the news this week, as one of the four versions of The Scream he painted is headed for the auction block at Sotheby's in New York. The painting is expected to bring bids as high as $80 million.

The image of The Scream has been emblazoned on everything from coffee mugs to mouse pads, but no reproduction has ever been quite as elegant as this Scream dress worn by transvesto-comedian Dame Edna.