How-To
There are numerous ways to control local exposure and contrast in Photoshop. I offer you an alternative to the standard and most often used methods. The beauty of this one is all areas of the photo can be individually controlled. Additionally, if an error is made or you want to go back and tweak the photo, modifications can be made nondestructively.
The first step is to make a duplicate of the background layer. This is essential to apply a Blending Mode. To accomplish this, drag the Background Layer to the Create A New Layer icon. The copy will appear above the Background Layer.
Go to the Layers Blending Mode pull down menu button and drag the cursor to the Multiply mode. Most likely the word NORMAL will appear in the window