The Self Critic Shutterbug

Grandpa

Av: F/5; Tv: 1/100s; f:36mm (35mm-equiv: 54mm); Flash used

Post processing using Raw Therapee.

This is my maternal grandfather. Closing in on 80, he’s still enthusiastic about anything and everything: politics, cricket, folk art, literature – you name it. I had carried my camera to the remote village where he lives; and had spent most of the time on landscape and nature photography. Ajja demanded that I click his portrait

The only thing I like about this photo is the expression. Ajja was initially looking directly into the camera – and I had to force him to look away. Had he been looking into the camera, I do not think I would have got such a pronounced expression.

What I dislike about this snap is the extreme sharpness. In fact this is a problem with most of my recent snaps. I do not know whether this is a side-effect of over-saturation. In fact, while processing this particular snap using Raw Therapee, I even disabled the sharpening altogether.

Any idea how to avoid this kind of sharpness-and-over-saturation problem while using Raw Therapee? I’d be grateful for any pointers. Maybe its time for me to understand what “Unsharp Mask” really means and how to use it to control the sharpness of one’s photos!