"Mortensen's theory was that the best gradation was obtained from negatives of very short-scale subjects that were slightly underexposed and developed to gamma-infinity. He chose scenes with about a 4-stop scale and expanded them to a full 7 stops"(posted 8774 days ago)Ed, this, and your article, are both extremely intriguing. I think this might just be what I'm looking for. See "http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=00362r" for another similar question...
Now to get some really flat lighting happening...6 Octabanks and HMI's and...ah heck just zap me to a planet with three stars and gimme some transparent sheets and a solarium (an Andromedarium?)...