[jmr]

Pete,

obviously, with digital you need to protect the highlights as you take the shot, and trust that if there's not too much tonal range you'll be able to get at the detail in the shadows in post processing.

What I'd do is create a mask for the left side and a complementary one for the right, and use levels, altering especially the mid-point, to get an overall effect like you saw at the time.