Related question to my prior post on overexposing

My outdoor flesh tones are too dark for my taste and closer to the black hair of my subjects than to the lighter zone. I usually expose at the box speed (Plus X and Rollei Classic 100) but am going to go down a stop to lighten up the skin tone while keeping the hair dark although I may lose some detail there.

If I want to spread out the contrast between the dark hair and skin, should I agitate more to increase the contrast but cut back on development time since I will be overexposing by a stop.

I am using Rollei Classic 100 @ 50 and Kodak Plus X @ 64 with Rodinal 1+50 or 1+100. Starting development times would be appreciated. I also use Fuji Neopan 400 and will now expose at 200 as well using HC-110 dilution B.

I am still learning so let me know if what I wrote above makes sense or am I completely off base.

Dear Lawrence,

Extra exposure alone should do it. As little as 1/3-2/3 stop. If your negs print OK on grades 2-3, leave the dev times and agitation where they are.

Increased agitation = increased speed at a given contrast + slightly increased contrast for a given time + slightly lower sharpness.

Reduced dev. time = reduced contrast and (usually) reduced speed + slightly higher sharpness. In other wirds you'd be pulling in two directions at once.

The film and dev you are using would normally be chosen for tonality (if at all) rather than for speed.

Cheers,

R.

Please describe your technique for applying the box speed. I am wondering why you are correcting contrast by changing exposure. What is wrong with the adage "Expose for the shadows, develop for the highlights? Maybe that is what you said in a roundabout sort of way.

Hold onto that thought while I go back and try to find your previous post.