Julian Baird 22/04/2016 Julian Baird 22/04/2016

2016

The Exeter Cavern is one of my favourite venues for seeing bands and DJs. I have had many a hedonistic night there! So when I was asked by my good friend Steve over at MusicMuso to help him cover Molotov Jukebox, there was no way I was to going to say no.

The Exeter Cavern is a great venue, but for the photographer it is a real challenge. Virtually all the lighting is some shade of red so it was black and white images to the rescue. You got to work with what you've got!

Eugene the Cat

Supporting Molotov Jukebox were the rather excellent Eugene the Cat. MusicMuso managed to catch up with them after their set so expect to hear more about them over there really soon.

In the mean time here they are in action:

Molotov Jukebox

I've shot Molotov Jukebox twice before so I knew they would put on a great show. They of course did not disappoint and I got myself into the crowd and took these images:

For live music fans, especially for those of a gypstep persuasion, it was a fantastic night! Sure the venue lighting is a challenge for the photographer, but you just get in there and try to capture the spirit of the night. Hopefully these images just do that!

And finally...

It's coming up to that time of year where festivals start to dominate my schedule. It can be tiring, but very rewarding..... I can't wait!

See you next time on The Unplugged Blog!

Julian Baird 22/09/2015 Julian Baird 22/09/2015

The Unplugged Blog is One Year Old!

A year ago today I started The Unplugged Blog as a quick way to talk about and share the images I had recently captured. My first blog post shared some images from the Lewis Watson gig at the Exeter Phoenix - you can read it here.

One year and 24 blog posts later I've shared images from The South, The Boomtown Rats, Europe, Grandmaster Flash and UB40! It's been a blast.

For those who read my blog on a regular basis you'll know that I like to share my images as soon as I can. And while I will post images direct and live from a gig on my Twitter feed, you can't beat the quality of a fully processed image from the computer. So when I get back from a gig the first thing I do is catalog and select my best images. I will then normally select one or two of my best images from the shoot to share on my blog. It's important to share some images while the gig is still fresh in everyone's mind!

So to celebrate The Unplugged Blog's first birthday I've collated a selection of some of my favorite images. Not only are there images from previous blog posts but I've included some images from gigs before I'd even started the blog. So have a good look through and you might see some images previously unshared!

I hope you enjoyed this selection of images, I certainly enjoyed taking them. Remember to keep checking my Twitter feed and The Unplugged Blog for all the latest images!

See you next time!

Julian Baird 20/07/2015 Julian Baird 20/07/2015

Chagstock 2015

It had been a busy week for me and my energy levels were low. Well, that was until I arrived at Chagstock last Friday evening! As soon as I picked up my photo pass and got through the gate I could tell it was going to be great weekend full of festival fun.

I spent a lot of time wondering around the site and there was a really positive vibe about the place. From the young to the old, everyone was just on a mission to have a good time. Hopefully you can see this from this selection of some of my favourite people and crowd shots:

As with my last festival post I'm going to keep this post light on words and let the pictures do the talking when it comes to the music. However, expect a full review from my friends over at MusicMuso really soon, so keep an eye out for it. In the mean time, here are some images of the bands and artists that made it such a great festival:

Chagstock was amazing. No doubt. It was hard work (believe it or not), but very satisfying. A great mix of amazing musicians and festival folk really made it a pleasure to shoot. I've still got lots more photos to process so keep an eye on my Twitter feed and I'll let you know when I've posted them.

I'm away to catch up on some sleep but see you next time on the Unplugged Blog!