Extreme low-light social photography.

I was thinking that .. cooking the RAW files to this extent seems wrong. i can see a little NR or removing other vagaries specific to the sensor but to alter the data to the extent that distortion changes would do is another thing. are we sure this isn't just because of a bad RAW converter ? does it happen in more than just LR ?

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http://www.daisyseyecancerfund.org/Files/Awareness/photographing_rb_poster.pdf