Testing new monochrome techniques

With assignments and projects in the wings a bit I have spent some time looking at a new monochrome work flow. I am particularly interested in the vintage style of print that incorporates a slight tone but high contrast and dynamic range. Within PS I can of course adjust curves and apply tone and produce a sepia type of image but I have always found the results below par. This of course is not new and my current research has taken me into HDR and Silver Efex Pro. The image below is pretty ordinary (I am liking ordinary though, and have stopped chasing the extraordinary) in its native state. In SEP I am using for now the straight (normal) conversion and making three version. -1, 0 , +1 stop and then taking them to Photomatix for HDR conversion. After HDR the image is again taken into into SEP and Vintage Plate 2 used as an adjustment layer. Various blending modes are to be tested and % opacity. This is early days but if and when I perfect the workflow it will be used in future work.



NIkon D3 85mm f1.4 ISO200 1/250sec f2.5