Kathakali performers making-up before the performance, Fort Cochin (Kochi)

Nicholas, this challenging shot of yours has really made me look and think. I believe some

things cannot be right and others can be improved while keeping it "unmanipulated" as

defined in PN. First, I think some cropping would do it good by uncluttering the left part,

bringing the men more into the picture and better balancing the composition. Then for

candlelight the brightness and colour balance do not convey this feeling at all, as one

would expect it to be darker and much warmer. In my suggestion above I darkened, slightly

reduced contrast, and fairly reduced blue and increased red. I cannot rely on my current

monitor so it may look overdone in yours, but that is the idea to make the picture more

"atmospheric", where it belongs. Finally, with a 50mm at (I surmise) f1.4 softness was to be

expected. Perhaps the trick here would be simply reducing the picture size, and with all

these changes put together I would already rate it above average. I hope I did not bore you

with so much talking and handling! Cheers.

Thank you Ricardo, I appreciate you opinion, and indeed prefer your treatment.

Regards, Nick.