Todd, this is a case in which a large format camera and sheet film can help a lot. With the filter in place, try a couple of shots and then vary development times to get what you need. I would use a film with great expansion potential (Efke 25 would be my first choice) because, in essence, you will be doing a plus development to get what you need. Don't forget your heavy tripod.
With roll-film, you can use the old "snip test" to try differing times. Sounds like trial and error will have to be the approach here, unless you have a densitometer available to plot the development curve. In either case, just keep track of the time, temperature and agitation, so you can see which is the right amount of contrast needed for your visualization. Best of luck, tim