This is the building I set out to photograph yesterday when I was sidetracked by the freight train in Providence. It turns out that the lighting was even better today, so I'm glad I didn't waste the shot yesterday. This is the Ladd Observatory at Brown University in Providence. The building was built in 1891 and is dedicated to Governor Herbert Ladd, who served the state from 1889-1892. The first Professor of Astronomy to man this observatory was Winslow Upton who specialized in the observation of transits. The observatory was built too late to observe the Transit of Venus in 1882, however. Today, light pollution is the greatest threat to the observatory with the entire western sky being obliterated by the lights of downcity Providence. The building remains open to the general public every Tuesday from 7-9 PM.
Post processing started with a classic filter in Topaz B&W FX. I then adjusted adaptive exposure, regions, contrast, boost black, boost white, and protect highlights. A brightness and contrast adjustment followed by a sepia photo filter were added in PSE.
@tigerdreamer In most of the Topaz plug-ins, there is a "protect highlights" slider. This selectively increases the subtle dark tones around lighter areas in the photo, improving the contrast right around those light areas. It increases the details in the light regions. There is also a "protect shadows" slider which I rarely use. That increases the brightness in the dark sections, but in my view it tends to make the photo appear muddy.
I like your post processing narrative.
When you say protect the highlights what are you doing?