Michael Turnbull
BIOGRAPHY
My name is Michael Turnbull, from northern Michigan. Married to my beautiful wife Lois for 24 years (who can be seen on my portraits page), with 1 son, and 4 cats (they can be seen on my gallery page). Living the majority of my life in Kalkaska, I enjoy exploring the intriguing and beautiful outdoors. Traveling throughout northern Michigan in search of that missed or unique perspective. My interest is piqued by remnants of days past, the old, and the decaying, as well as man-made industrial and engineering. Purpose and function, obscure and the bizarre, draw me in to showcase the otherwise unnoticed or ignored. I shoot primarily in black and white, because I am partially colorblind due to a severe eye injury I received as a child, which left me completely blind for weeks in a hospital. Needless to say, I see quite well today with the help of a miracle, and a pair of mild prescription lenses.
I thought once that I would travel the World, go to interesting and exotic places, capturing all the while the World in its entirety. But I realized, there are people that live in those places with cameras too. And as it stands now, it would take over 7 billion lifetimes to capture all the World has to offer. My hope, is that if you’re reading this, you’ve got a camera strapped around your neck, and sharing your part of the World with the rest of us, including a guy from northern Michigan.
EDUCATION
Moving to Kalkaska from Reed City when I was 5 years of age, I started grade school here. Continuing until I was a freshman in high school, with a short year spent in West Palm Beach, Florida. My last two years of high school, I spent my afternoons at a tech school for electronics, graduating from the tech school and Kalkaska High School in 1991. I continued my education at Northwestern Michigan College. There I studied the liberal arts, with my focus on English and music. My studies in English, took me on many ventures in creative writing. Flourishing, I wrote many short stories and poetry. Music brought me to the chamber singers group in college. Singing was quite an adventure as well for we traveled the area to different venues, and sang everything from show tunes, to “Carmina Burana”. I learned to sing in 5 different languages, and did quite well.
WORK
I started working right out of high school, as a bench technician in a small electronics shop. Spending 6 years there while attending college, where I was one of the two technicians! I learned the most there, mainly because the shop was locally owned by a man who was always financially conscious, and secondly the shop had been there since before television was invented, a radio shop, before rural electricity even. So we worked on everything. I worked on the latest technologies, to things made way before my time, including but not limited to repairing an automated toaster, and old round faced B&W televisions.
After working at that small shop, and graduating from college, I started working for a large corporation as an electronics technician. Remaining there for over 17 years, I traveled the entire northern tip of Michigan, including the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula and all of the surrounding islands of both peninsulas. In all kinds of weather, traveling most times over 300 miles a day, for long hours, it was exhausting. I did however, see things and places in northern Michigan and the UP, which I never dreamed existed, and for that I am thankful. One day I expect to travel back to those places and capture for you that beauty and oddity.
Now, I have my feet on the ground again in a shop as a press operator, where I never imagined to be. My fascination with the industrial makes for interesting days, for I am always looking for a good shot. As you can see that fascination is on my galleries page called “Industrial Dreams”, there is something to be recognized for factory work.
HOBBIES
My second love beside photography, is making music. Although I have an extensive past singing, you will find that all of the music I have made (so far) are instrumentals. I play all of the instruments, every track recorded and produced by myself. Most of my tracks can be found at my YouTube channel, videos I produced featuring my photography, graphic art, and poetry.
Visit my YouTube channel here: The Nucleus of Idiosyncrasies
I love to carve walking sticks. Generally, I like to find the most twisted and rooted pieces to slowly shape and bring to life, whatever reveals itself. Recent pieces include a bird-like head, a man with his arms outstretched appearing so in agony, a dragons head and neck, a toothy-grinned Cyclops where his eye was a dark marble glued in place, and a very large piece I recently sold which resembled a large eye with a gemstone as the iris.
I also paint, acrylic on canvass, portraying abstract shapes and masses that provoke the imagination. I recently held a small showing selling a few pieces, meeting some great people, and had one of the best times of my life.
Sculpture is another hobby I enjoy. Recent projects include several clay masks and miscellaneous abstract metallic pieces.
I truly enjoy making or restoring small electric or electronic devices. My joy is rewiring and repurposing those devices. A few recent ones include an repurposing an electrical panel from a decommissioned nuclear power plant, a very large bright red fire alarm, turning a “magic eye” vacuum tube into a night light, repurposing a bulb from an old copy machine as a workable and dimmable light fixture, removing the amplifier section from a junk radio to make a radio for my garage, and making a lamp from part of an engine cylinder.
I like hiking because of the time it takes to go from place to place. Noticing the little things along the way that make up the trail or road. Pausing from time to time to smell the air, listen to the silence of the wild, and appreciate the earth that I am leaving my footprints upon.
Swimming has always been the one true release from the world when I need it most. I started swimming as a child because I grew up a short walk from the lakeshore. Going to the beach early mornings and swimming as far out into the water as I dared, completely unsupervised I felt a certain freedom, treading there until I was out of breath, and then floating slowly back to shore. I discovered later snorkeling was the best exercise because I could swim until my skin was completely wrinkled from being in the water so long. Not only could I swim for extended periods, but also drop far below the surface, away from all noise, finding too that I could hold my breath longer each time I swam. Watching small schools of fish, and finding items at the bottom of the lake, some of which were over 100 years old that I still keep today.
I’m a late 80’s kid, so spent a ton of quarters in the arcades. One small arcade where I grew up, and a larger one in town where I went with my friends. “Combat”, “Tron”, “Tempest”, and “Centipede” were my games. But, when I ran low on quarters, my friends and I would shoot pool until we were completely spent. So I love to play video games. When my son was 5, we got our first PS2, and since then we’ve gone through 3 PS2’s, 2 PS3’s, and 1 PS4. You could call me a Sony fanboy, heck I’m typing on a VAIO now!
Lastly, I love sci-fi movies. Starting with “Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, to “Stargate”. Yes, all of those and any you can think of.
So now you know me, kind of. If you actually read this whole bio, leave me a comment telling me I’m not boring, or even if I am.
I really do appreciate each and every one who follows my site!
Thank you!
My name is Michael Turnbull, from northern Michigan. Married to my beautiful wife Lois for 24 years (who can be seen on my portraits page), with 1 son, and 4 cats (they can be seen on my gallery page). Living the majority of my life in Kalkaska, I enjoy exploring the intriguing and beautiful outdoors. Traveling throughout northern Michigan in search of that missed or unique perspective. My interest is piqued by remnants of days past, the old, and the decaying, as well as man-made industrial and engineering. Purpose and function, obscure and the bizarre, draw me in to showcase the otherwise unnoticed or ignored. I shoot primarily in black and white, because I am partially colorblind due to a severe eye injury I received as a child, which left me completely blind for weeks in a hospital. Needless to say, I see quite well today with the help of a miracle, and a pair of mild prescription lenses.
I thought once that I would travel the World, go to interesting and exotic places, capturing all the while the World in its entirety. But I realized, there are people that live in those places with cameras too. And as it stands now, it would take over 7 billion lifetimes to capture all the World has to offer. My hope, is that if you’re reading this, you’ve got a camera strapped around your neck, and sharing your part of the World with the rest of us, including a guy from northern Michigan.
EDUCATION
Moving to Kalkaska from Reed City when I was 5 years of age, I started grade school here. Continuing until I was a freshman in high school, with a short year spent in West Palm Beach, Florida. My last two years of high school, I spent my afternoons at a tech school for electronics, graduating from the tech school and Kalkaska High School in 1991. I continued my education at Northwestern Michigan College. There I studied the liberal arts, with my focus on English and music. My studies in English, took me on many ventures in creative writing. Flourishing, I wrote many short stories and poetry. Music brought me to the chamber singers group in college. Singing was quite an adventure as well for we traveled the area to different venues, and sang everything from show tunes, to “Carmina Burana”. I learned to sing in 5 different languages, and did quite well.
WORK
I started working right out of high school, as a bench technician in a small electronics shop. Spending 6 years there while attending college, where I was one of the two technicians! I learned the most there, mainly because the shop was locally owned by a man who was always financially conscious, and secondly the shop had been there since before television was invented, a radio shop, before rural electricity even. So we worked on everything. I worked on the latest technologies, to things made way before my time, including but not limited to repairing an automated toaster, and old round faced B&W televisions.
After working at that small shop, and graduating from college, I started working for a large corporation as an electronics technician. Remaining there for over 17 years, I traveled the entire northern tip of Michigan, including the eastern half of the Upper Peninsula and all of the surrounding islands of both peninsulas. In all kinds of weather, traveling most times over 300 miles a day, for long hours, it was exhausting. I did however, see things and places in northern Michigan and the UP, which I never dreamed existed, and for that I am thankful. One day I expect to travel back to those places and capture for you that beauty and oddity.
Now, I have my feet on the ground again in a shop as a press operator, where I never imagined to be. My fascination with the industrial makes for interesting days, for I am always looking for a good shot. As you can see that fascination is on my galleries page called “Industrial Dreams”, there is something to be recognized for factory work.
HOBBIES
My second love beside photography, is making music. Although I have an extensive past singing, you will find that all of the music I have made (so far) are instrumentals. I play all of the instruments, every track recorded and produced by myself. Most of my tracks can be found at my YouTube channel, videos I produced featuring my photography, graphic art, and poetry.
Visit my YouTube channel here: The Nucleus of Idiosyncrasies
I love to carve walking sticks. Generally, I like to find the most twisted and rooted pieces to slowly shape and bring to life, whatever reveals itself. Recent pieces include a bird-like head, a man with his arms outstretched appearing so in agony, a dragons head and neck, a toothy-grinned Cyclops where his eye was a dark marble glued in place, and a very large piece I recently sold which resembled a large eye with a gemstone as the iris.
I also paint, acrylic on canvass, portraying abstract shapes and masses that provoke the imagination. I recently held a small showing selling a few pieces, meeting some great people, and had one of the best times of my life.
Sculpture is another hobby I enjoy. Recent projects include several clay masks and miscellaneous abstract metallic pieces.
I truly enjoy making or restoring small electric or electronic devices. My joy is rewiring and repurposing those devices. A few recent ones include an repurposing an electrical panel from a decommissioned nuclear power plant, a very large bright red fire alarm, turning a “magic eye” vacuum tube into a night light, repurposing a bulb from an old copy machine as a workable and dimmable light fixture, removing the amplifier section from a junk radio to make a radio for my garage, and making a lamp from part of an engine cylinder.
I like hiking because of the time it takes to go from place to place. Noticing the little things along the way that make up the trail or road. Pausing from time to time to smell the air, listen to the silence of the wild, and appreciate the earth that I am leaving my footprints upon.
Swimming has always been the one true release from the world when I need it most. I started swimming as a child because I grew up a short walk from the lakeshore. Going to the beach early mornings and swimming as far out into the water as I dared, completely unsupervised I felt a certain freedom, treading there until I was out of breath, and then floating slowly back to shore. I discovered later snorkeling was the best exercise because I could swim until my skin was completely wrinkled from being in the water so long. Not only could I swim for extended periods, but also drop far below the surface, away from all noise, finding too that I could hold my breath longer each time I swam. Watching small schools of fish, and finding items at the bottom of the lake, some of which were over 100 years old that I still keep today.
I’m a late 80’s kid, so spent a ton of quarters in the arcades. One small arcade where I grew up, and a larger one in town where I went with my friends. “Combat”, “Tron”, “Tempest”, and “Centipede” were my games. But, when I ran low on quarters, my friends and I would shoot pool until we were completely spent. So I love to play video games. When my son was 5, we got our first PS2, and since then we’ve gone through 3 PS2’s, 2 PS3’s, and 1 PS4. You could call me a Sony fanboy, heck I’m typing on a VAIO now!
Lastly, I love sci-fi movies. Starting with “Star Wars”, “Star Trek”, to “Stargate”. Yes, all of those and any you can think of.
So now you know me, kind of. If you actually read this whole bio, leave me a comment telling me I’m not boring, or even if I am.
I really do appreciate each and every one who follows my site!
Thank you!