You could fiddle with the techniques for producing High Dynamic Range photos to see if you can get both the highlights and shadows under control. Here’s a page about doing HDR in Photoshop: http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/high-dynamic-range.htm

There’s also this tutorial on how to use levels in photoshop to recapture lost detsils: http://www.photojojo.com/content/tutorials/five-minute-photo-fix/