How can I do something similar with Lightroom

Question

With the combination of the Editor of "Photoshop Elements" (PSE) and of the KODAK SHO Professional Plugin (which runs as a "filter"-plugin in the PSE Editor environment), I can often fixd photos which-
- have both bright and dark portions
- and which show poorly details in the bright portions.
But (probablay because I have not sufficient LR expertise), I do not understand how to achieve similar results (or: better results) with Lightroom.
Is an experienced LR user aware of a relatively ***simple*** way to achieve something similar (or, even  to achieve better results) with LR and is willing to explain her/his solution to me? Thanks very much in advance for it.
Now, I need to explain in detail, with one concrete example, what I can do with the combination of PSE and KODAK SHO.
A concrete example of a Photo that I need to edit follows (continuation of the description of my problem/questions follows in the next Post).

Answer 1

The Fill Light slider brings the shadows up and the Recovery slider brings the highlights down.
Also, in LR3 the Curves is different from LR 2 in  so far as you now can pull up or down both ends of the curve vertically. This was not possible in LR 2.
Grab the little circle at the left / bottom end of the curve and pull it up vertically. That will lighten your blacks / shadows. Grab the little circle at the right / top end of the curve tool and pull it down. That will darken your highlights. This process will make your image look a bit flat; if so, increase contrast by giving the curve a gentle S-form.
Directly below the curves tool you have the option to choose between "linear', "medium contrast', or "strong contrast'. If you choose one of the latter two, the end points of the curve will snap back to zero but the curve will have a curve (no pun).
Also, in case your image does not have enough contrast, instead of using the contrast slider, you can pull the end points of the curve horizontally.
Apart from these image-wide changes you can make local changes with the adjustment brush or with graduated filter. I often use the gard filter to give a little "ooomph" to the sky by setting exposure (for the grad filter) to -0.66. Similarly you can lighten the shadows with a grad filter by giving it an + exposure and/or increasing brightness. Make sure that the grad filter doesn't give you a color toning - unless you want it. With a color toning you can make your shadows less blue (by choosing yellow toning) and your sky more blue (by choosing a blue toning). Naturally you'd need 2 different grad filters for that; you can't have 2 different settings in one grad filter.
ErnstK