Museum of the Republic - Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

This place was the head-office of the Brazilian government from 1897 to 1960. After the suicide of President Getulio Vargas, in 1954, the head-office was turned into a museum, when the government moved to Brasilia.
This picture shows the president's meeting room, with all the original furniture and accessories used by the president and his ministers.

The room was a little dark, and, in places like this, you cannot use the furniture as a support for the camera... So, I couldn't go down to the shutter time I would like for good exposure. For enhancing this picture, I used the "Shadows/Highlights" feature of Adobe Photoshop, and some Levels manipulation.
"Shadows" is a great feature that allow you to literally bring things from the shadows...

More pictures from this place can be seen at http://www.pbase.com/rogeriomaciel/catete