Ever have one of those random tidbits of information in your head, and you have no idea how learned it, so you figure it must be common knowledge? Well, I thought everyone knew who Miss Josephine Baker was until I recieved lots of comments about blurry hula skirts. I started asking my friends, "Do you know who Josephine Baker is?" No, they did not, and my attempt (failed or not, I'm still not sure myself) at a smoky, Parisian Jazz club look fell on more than one deaf ear.
So, in the educational spirit of things here, Josephine Baker was a singer and dancer in Paris in the 1920's-30's. One of the things she is most famous for is dancing only in a skirt of bananas. You can find more info here: //www.cmgww.com/stars/baker/.
You go, girl! I thought of Josephine Baker the moment I saw it (I saw a documentary about her not long ago). I was quite surprised it didn't rank much higher...I thought it was a very well-planned and executed shot. We're here to learn, and you have taught the masses the lesson of the day. :o)
PS - have you returned from the witches' grasp yet? :o) LOL
I totally got (or at least assumed) that you were going for a Josephine Baker effect in that shot, but as I said in my comment on the photo, the only thing I would change is to try to demonstrate more movement in the subject that is not caused by blurring the image. As it is, I think that image would be better with only a slight blur or a blur in a more specific direction.
But that's a fairly picky critique. I thought the image was beautiful and fulfilled the challenge in an extremely creative way. I have no idea why so many people gave it such a low rating or why anyone thought it would be a good idea to accessorize their low vote with a nasty comment.
I usually think that each photo gets exactly the vote that it deserves, but in this case I think you should ignore the naysayers. This is a great idea and a really nice photo.
I think it is next to impossible for a photo to score well here when there is nothing at all sharply focused. But, if you liked it and others obviously liked it too then....be happy ;)
For anyone interested, Josephine Baker's stepson operates a restaurant called Chez Josephine, named for his stepmother, of course. The restaurant is located on West 42nd Street in New York City. My wife and I had the pleasure of dining there the last time we were in the city. The food was good, but the decor is what we remember most.
