Belper Town FC

Continuing my mission of photographing at least one football match a week, Saturday took me to the absolutely stunning Christchurch Meadow, home of Belper Town FC. They took on Dunston UTS in a seven goal thriller, resulting in a 3-4 win to the visitors. Luckily, the weather decided to play nice (despite the showery forecast), making photographing the game/ ground all the more delightful. Belper was such a friendly and welcoming club, further adding to my enjoyment of my visit. I would highly recommend popping along to Christchurch Meadow if you get the chance- you will not be disappointed!

Link to bumper set of images HERE (yes, yes I did get carried away)! And a few below as usual...

Finishing What I Started

I've had this piece lying unfinished in its embroidery hoop for almost two years now. I left it in the hoop, because I had always intended on finishing it, but then things happened and stitching took a back seat for some time. I'm about to embark on my most ambitious embroidery project to date (no spoilers- sorry, you'll have to wait and see!) and I didn't want to go into that with this half finished project still hanging over me. And probably was a bit of procrastination on my part- big projects are always scary to start!

Nevertheless, I decided to finish it, just to get it done. One thing which really stood out to me, is that the old sections of the piece are really not as a well sewn as the new sections and I feel this shows quite starkly, too. For some reason, I didn't really think that embroidery was something you could develop at- or not at least to this extent. I wrongly assumed that once you knew how to do one style of stitch, say satin stitch for example, then that's how you'd do it forever. But no! Not at all. I look at my satin stitches from then until now and the ones I do now are so much neater and look a whole lot better.

I think at the time, this pattern must have been a little too complex for my skill level back then, but didn't realise it when I was sewing. But reflecting back, it looks like I struggled on some sections- the middle section is really bad and it's the thing I most dislike about the piece. It's so asymmetrical and just messy! What I do like though is the colour palette- I chose reds/ pinks/ yellows/ purples, so it all linked together nicely and contained myself in using every colour which I like the look of! I feel this decision paid off, as I think the colours are one of the strongest things about this piece. Another thing I thoroughly dislike is the line thickness of the tentacles- I had drawn these out in pencil already when I originally traced the design two years ago. So I felt I had no choice but to sew them as per the pencil line- it was either that, or to have pencil showing on the fabric, if I had decided to sew them thinner. I thought I had chosen the lesser of two evils, but looking at the piece, I feel thinner lines might have looked better, even if you could see some pencil marks underneath.

I also decided not to use any black in this piece. I did this because I decided I wasn't going to outline it as I felt I didn't need to, but even the bits which I did outline, I used another colour. As the piece was never going to be 'perfect' anyway, I decided I'd be a bit more free with experimentation on this one. It's so easy to go with a standard black outline, as that's a fairly 'go to' colour, plus you know it just works. Even though the colour outlines don't especially give the results I wanted on this piece, I can see where they could have potential in future pieces.

Despite my qualms with this piece, I am pleased I finished it, as now I'm not constantly thinking 'oh I really must finish that moth/ butterfly I have hanging around'! Finishing it has also shown me how much my stitching has improved and developed in two years and makes me excited about what I can achieve in the future and how far I can develop my craft.

Here it is:

Women's World Cup / Sheffield FC Women

Sunday (20/8/23) not only was the historic final of the Women's World Cup, but also the beginning of the domestic season in England for the FA Women's National League and some of the regional leagues. A decision I feel was quite poor from the FA- going into the season knowing these fixtures would clash with the final, to me felt rather myopic. Alongside this, several men's fixtures were also scheduled on the same day, some even during the final. I know at least in the FAWNL, the decision to postpone or delay kick off was offered to the clubs playing on that day, but this could potentially lead to disputes between clubs, which at this point in the season could mean getting off on the wrong foot, without a ball even being kicked.

I appreciate you can't please everyone and most will have an opinion on this matter, but as soon as it was known that England were in the final, I think all matches on that day in England (be it men's or women's) should have been postponed (or one step better- not have scheduled any matches for that day before the season began, especially with how likely the Lionesses could reach the final- you know, being European champions and all that). This would be a mark of respect for the Lionesses for such a momentous achievement and to also show that the FA takes the women's game as seriously as it likes to think it does- not just another equality check box exercise.

All the above being said, it's excellent to witness the exponential growth of the women's side of the game, especially in attendances/ ticket sales and television viewing figures. Alongside participation in the sport and media coverage. In my home city of Sheffield, a big screen was erected in the centre, with food and drink stalls, making a real festival atmosphere. This is where I watched the final and it was fantastic to witness this kind of turn out for a women's football match- it actually made me quite emotional.

Of course a win would have been even better(!), but to get to a final of a world cup is no mean feat! The Lionesses did England extremely proud and they are all heroes and history makers. The squad is packed with a plethora of talented players and I can't wait to see where this team goes next. I still believe it's coming home, though we might have to wait a little longer...

Now, as stated at the top of this post the FAWNL started at the weekend, meaning the show must go on! I'm really trying to get a photo set out each week this season, so The Home of Football Stadium was my choice of destination on Sunday. Sheffield FC Women hosted Loughborough Lightening in division one North in the delayed 4pm kick off. The game ended 1-1, with Sheffield coming back into it in the second half.

I only managed a mini set of photos for this game- due to the action predominately being at the other end for the majority of the first half. You can view those here. And I'll put a few below for good measure!

35mm Photos

I finally got round to developing another camera film. I'd say there were a few decent ones in this batch, but a fair amount were ruined by a terrible lens flare- example below:

The images are also quite high contrast, so the blacks are really dark and hard to pull from in post- I think I should try and remember this when shooting, as it's not the first time this has happened using this camera. I use the built in light meter, but maybe it only goes for the brightest part of the image in the viewfinder, rather than the picture as a whole. I think for the next roll, I'll stop relying on the light meter so much and go off what I know/ my instinct. I've been messing with cameras for a good eleven or so years now, so perhaps I should have more faith in myself and my judgment. Or take the battery out as that will force me to think for myself!

Anyway, below are a few which I quite like (the first one is probably my favourite)!

Totoro Embroidery

I could not resist doing an embroidery of the cutest animation character ever IMO! I'm really pleased with how this one turned out- it might be my best yet. I think I've captured the likeness of Totoro well, despite being uncertain about it at the beginning (another note to self to have more self belief). I also like how I'm steering away from using patterns in the DMC online library and creating my own designs.

It was also my first time blending colours (or at least in a big way), which I used for the background. Again, I thought this was going to look terrible so almost gave up midway through as I didn't have the confidence that it would look any 'good'. Despite this, I forced myself to persist, because it was a technique I had been wanting to try and if I never try it, then how will I ever know if I'm able to do it?! And how will I ever progress my work? If I persist with it, then at least I can pick up what I need to improve on for next time round, rather than never try it and stagnate my progression or skill. Something I feel can (and should) be applied to all aspects of my life and work.

I think the blending looks fairly decent (more emphasis on 'fairly'), though I have found some areas where I feel it needs improving. But I do like the colourful contrast of the background to the limited palette of the foreground. I think it really makes Totoro stand out, whilst adding a little bit of 'something' so it doesn't look too plain.

I have a pretty ambitious idea for my next embroidery, so keep your eyes peeled for that one..! In the meantime, here's a few images of the design I've been writing about here:

Back Out With My Camera

I know my football photos have been few and far between of late, but I really hope that is all to change! I dusted down my Canon and nervously took it with me on Saturday to the absolutely stunning Moorends Welfare Ground, just outside of Thorne (a market town in Doncaster). My last full set of photos was in March this year, so understandably I really was quite apprehensive getting back into it. Luckily, it felt like I hadn't had a break and after a few minutes of game time, I settled into the rhythm of it fairly smoothly. And I'm quite proud of the results- I can't wait to be back out every week photographing!

Moorends (home to Thorne Colliery FC) is somewhere I've been wanting to photograph for several years now and after seeing on their Facebook page advertised they'll be showing the Lionesses QF in the bar beforehand, that sealed the deal! The club was extremely welcoming/ friendly, which of course gave the right impression from the off. And the ground, well, I'll let the photos do the talking! They honestly don't make them like that anymore... If you've not been, then what are you waiting for and if you have been, then go again!

A few images below and you can view the full set HERE. Also, I made a new IG for my photography (being as I'm not using Twitter anymore). Check that out here.

BEAR- Selected

Delighted to announce that 'Bear' has another festival outing- woop woop! It has been selected for The Spirit of Independence Film Festival, which is actually a film festival based here in Sheffield. So if you fancy catching my film (or any of the other fantastic looking shorts/ features), then make sure you have Saturday 30th September free!

To see the rest of the line up, find out more about the festival and to buy tickets, head to the website here.

Hope to see some of you there!