Photoshop CS
Top pic: Buzz Simplifier 1 setting:6360 - no other adjustments
Center pic: original unmodified
Bottom pic: a laundry list of manipulation
No builtin PS or 3rd party filters or plugins of any kind were used
1st layer - shadows and highlight adjust - allows lighten or darken shadows
2nd layer - desaturation to b/w then hand blur with the Finger tool - History brush back any mistakes.
3rd layer - shadows and highlight adjust - a second tuneup as in the 1st layer.
4th layer - color adjustment - saturation intensity.
All layers will have to be viewed turning the viewing Eye on and off for each layer.
*note: nothing is automatic - careful manual adjustment is required this method will be individual for each picture and will take experimentation.