This is the rack that holds our snare drum collection at ICP Studios where I work as a backline tech. The image was done for our studio website.

The cool thing about snares is that although a drummer might go for a complete kit with a certain dominant sound or attitude, it’s the snare drum that has the most dynamic attack, and so changing this component can fine tune the attitude to fit a particular track. And since we’ve started seriously collecting them, it’s been amazing to discover how different sizes, materials, methods of construction, and types of finishings can completely alter the sound.

It wasn’t easy getting all the reflective surfaces under control, but I found that placing the 2 flash heads (with soft boxes) at the most oblique angle possible helped greatly. I took 4 bracketed exposures and took bits from the most underexposed of the 4 to replace areas of the main shot that were overexposed.

EOS 5D MkI, 16-35L at 35mm, f13 for the main shot, 2 x Elinchrom 250 W flash heads with soft box.