How do you determine the character of toning you give to a B&W image?

[loccdor]

You're starting with a B&W negative or digital image. In the case that you don't want the final result to be neutral gray, what's your criteria for determining what the tone should be? The hue and the saturation. What has worked well for you and in what contexts? It can be a digital or chemical process, I'm mostly interested in how you choose the color and intensity.

 

[MattKing]

A cursory review of most of my prints over the last few years will likely result in a response akin to "Matt sure likes toning".
So it is probably important to keep that context in mind when you read this post.
I print a lot of pictures of fairly old things - trees and older human artifacts being common subjects. Many of them are wood.
In my minds eye, I tend to see older styles of printing when I take and print them, and that means at least warm tone paper, but more likely neutral or cold tone paper toned either warmer (mostly) or colder than neutral.
I expect if I did more architectural work, I'd see more cold tones.
Two examples where the toning suggested itself to me at the time of taking:
Very warm:

Net Loft Floats #10

• MattKing
• Nov 18, 2024
• 2

A detail from some of the nets and floats on display at the Net Loft building at the Brittania...

Veering toward the cold:

Regulator

• MattKing
• Dec 21, 2024
• 2

A detail from a vintage fire truck at the truck museum.
Regulator-52c-2024-03-23b-crop-res 1342.jpg

 

[Carnie Bob]

I have always been partial to a slight sepia tone followed by selenium ( not over powering) Matts example of the netting is my choice.

 

[loccdor]

Thanks for the explanation and images. Those are both great.

 

[mshchem]

I tone most all of my prints. Experiment and save swatches. Sometimes it's best to leave alone. I loved the last iteration of Kodak variable contrast cream base neutral tone papers in a little bit of selenium. Nothing more pleasing to my eye.

 

[mshchem]

Wow I need to get downstairs and print. Got up to 2°C here today. I went out on my ebike, to heck with standing in the dark