Here  is another possibility for an 8x10 black and white shoot: 

An overcast day with little wind is what is  needed. 

All this effort does raise the question of what place does large format black-and-white photography  still hold today in a digital world full of colour images? It does seem to belong to yesterday's world. 

It has more to do with  craft and DIY ethos in reaction to the intense colour world of digital; a reaction that turns back to old 19th century processes and  places an emphasis on the process rather than the end result. The results often seem flat.