Open Gates

I was at Open Gates last Friday taking a group photo of attendees at a retreat. Open Gates is located on 25th Street and Broadway in Galveston. It's been operated by UTMB for many years as a conference center, but has been closed since Hurricane Ike in 2008. It recently reopened, and was on the Historical Foundation's Homes Tour in May. While I was waiting for my group, I took the photo above -- three handheld bracketed photos merged together with Nik HDR Efex Pro 2, 2000 ISO, no tripod ... just experimenting with light levels. My group ultimately became 68 people, so I wisely moved into a much lighter room on the exterior of the building for the photo. But for a while I was considering this location. But with the dark walls, hanging pendant lamps, and 68 people I just didn't want to attempt it.