Velvia

is a very high contrast film, but isn't that hard to "control". You need to
learn which situations it works best in, and the most educational way is to try
it in different situations, and see what works.
Provia is a less contrasty and equally fine grained film. The 100 Provia has
become a standard for many people who shoot what you seem to like.
Why don't you get a few rolls of each and try them out.
Sorry if I'm actually responding here with getting too crazy- this thread,
which I've followed albeit silently, has taken more than a few wierd turns.

dukephoto

It's true that Velvia has very high contrast, but so does pretty much
every other slide film.  Velvia has higher contrast than most everything
else, though.  You might look at Fuji's Sensia for a lower contrast,
less saturated alternative.

But really, I'd learn to shoot Velvia, especially for "magic hour"
light.  The colors are really lovely.

Some general tips to avoid the contrast blowout:

1. The tonal range is greatly compressed.  From the "neutral gray" tone
  (zone V), you half about 1 1/2 stops of usable tone both above and
  below this.  Sunlit snow, for example (the brightest tone that still
  has detail) is 1.5 to 2 stops above mid-tone.

2. Don't use an overall metering of the scene, unless the lighting is
  consistent throughout -- try to spot meter your darkest and lightest
  areas, and count the number of stops between them.  Set your exposure
  to the mid-point of this.  

  However, if the difference is more than 3, there's no exposure that
  will work.  In that case, make sure you meter correctly for the high
  areas, assume the dark areas will be rendered as black on the slide,
  and compose accordingly.

3. In full daylight, use a "sunny-16" rule with an ISO speed of 40, not
  50.  I.e., expose at 1/90s at f/11 or the equivalent.

4. It is impossible to accurately expose both shadows and sunlight areas
  with Velvia.  Expose for the sunlit areas and compose accordingly.

5. At sunset/sunrise, the difference between the sky and areas not lit
  by the sun is at least 3 stops, which is beyond the usable contrast
  range.  If you want detail in the foreground and color in the sky,
  get a split neutral-density filter:  I use a 2-stop filter, but keep
  a black card to dodge an additional stop's worth during exposures.

  Otherwise, compose with black foreground elements in mind.

Finally, three non-contrast related tips:

1. Reciprocity failure is actually quite good.  Below 4 seconds, I've
  never needed any compensation.  Between 4 and 10 seconds, I add 1/2
  stop; between 10 and 60 seconds, a full stop.  There's a noticeable
  shift to blue above 60 seconds.

2. If you're in the same lighting as the subject you're trying to shoot,
  the palm of your hand makes a good exposure reference point --
  whether you're light or dark-skinned overall, middle gray is one stop
  darker than most palms (i.e., meter your palm and add one stop).

3. Velvia doesn't render light-skinned people well, as it tends to
  over-saturate.  A good rule of thumb is to over-expose by 1/2 stop.

Anyway, I hope that's helpful.  It's well worth learning to use this
film.  It's truly wonderful.

-- John

Kodachrome 64 Professional.