For this tutorial I am going to take a screencap from underworld and soften the image and highlight it as I go along. Below is the image I'll be using for this example.

The first step I take is to brighten the image and alter the contrast to make the image bolder and clearer, before I start doing anything else. To do this go to Image >>> Adjustments >>> Brightness/Contrast.

The next thing I do is make the image softer looking. To do this I use 'burn' and 'dodge' tools. I have highlighted where you get these below.





Then I change the settings of the brush so that it is the right size and exposure - you can play around with this to see what suits your image best.





Using the 'dodge' tool on the lighter areas it will soften them and brighten them highlighting them more - and then using the 'burn' tool on the darker areas, you can soften the shadows. This is the finished result of my image after using these tools on it.

To further highlight the image I use the unsharp mask to edit how the image looks. Simply go to Filter >>> Sharpen >>> Unsharp Mask... and then looking at your preview edit the options to accentuate your image as you please.





Above you can see the settings I used for this example. Having sharpened the image, my example for this tutorial now looks like this.