Are the highlight details you're referring to the sky in your prints? If you're exposing for detail on the ground - the damamge done - getting detail in the sky (B&W) often requires filtration. If you like what yellow does for the sky you'll love red, and when you get your hands on a polarizer, watch out - all your shots for a period of time will have a strange, lunar quality about them...have fun.(posted 9071 days ago)I think that if you wish to control contrast in your negatives, read about the chemistry going on. As has so often been recommended, read Ansel Adams, The Negative, and The Print for a laborious but excellent discussion of the subject matter. On a more practical note, overexpose your shots by half to a whole stop then under develop by, oh, 15% as a starting point - TEST YOUR OWN SETUP - and you'll compress the contrast range of your negative, reducing the contrast, while retaining highlight details...this may or not be what you really want in the subject matter you're really after - the damage. Do consider filtration for the problem you're talking about.