Long exposure with Ilford film

Question

I like using Ilford film for street photography, and I'm starting now to use it for long exposure (mostly with large format).

Ideally, I would like to obtain fairly flat images (for post-processing in photoshop). The issue is that contrast increases with development time.

I'd like to know from those who have used Ilford before about their recipe for reducing the contrast (development time, speed rating, Delta vs Fp4 plus, etc..).

To add more information, lighting conditions are usually overcast/cloudy days, mid afternoon.

Answer 1

Controlling contrast like that would usually mean going for a low contrast developer. If you're into homebrewing you could try POTA or Delagi #8; the recipes are freely available. Stand developing with very dilute solutions of more conventional developers might work. Reciprocity failure is going to be a beast. Pota was originally formulated to deal with the problems of photographing nuclear tests and the subject brightness ranges involved. Whether you're using Ilford products or someone else's isn't important.