Jack
This was Dave's response to another post. Most of us can benefit from this information, so I am creating a separate topic in a relevant category. Lots of appreciation to Dave for such deep and eloquent information.
From Dave:
As someone who has designed and built a number of large scale photo studios specialising in essentially product photography, I can assure you this topic is as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. And as much as your budget wants to entertain. I've helped people build setups for less than $50, but my last studio (before I switched careers) cost well over $1mil.
Few key points - whatever you come up with is size dependent, so what's the biggest thing you'll need to photograph? Setting up something suitable is a lot more difficult for a full size drum kit than a snare say. And then remember, the larger, physically a light source is the softer the light will look on the object. And that doesn't mean you need to buy a $10,000 movie lamp, it could be a strong lamp with a bed sheet between in and the object. That way your light is no longer the size of the lamp, but the size of the sheet. The opposite applies, a small torch is only 10mm in size as a light source and will cast heavy shadows as a result.
But to say an HLD588 is the worst case scenario of photographing chrome, remember it's essentially a mirror. You could photograph it in a big white room, or build yourself a 'light tent' around it, and you're likely going to see the camera and the reflections of you, a tripod and make the texture of the fabric or walls visible. Do the opposite and photograph it in a dark room and carefully control you lighting and it will look black, like my images below. There's no Photoshop on these, just lighting. You'll note the chrome on the Supraphonic which is clean and unworn responds quite differently to the chrome on the Dynasonic which wears the marks of decades as a studio's house drum.
I would stress though, these are taken in my house in a big white room, not in an actual photo studio. Yes I'm using 'proper' lights and a tripod, but a lot of the heavy lifting is in blocking out all room lights, window lights and so on, to make a big black space, and then adding only the light you want into the photo.
To see what the opposite looks like prop your phone on something pointing at your snare, switch as many rooms lights on as you can manage, and then try and envelope the drum and the phone in a sheet making a bit tent around it. Then take that same image without your sheet. You'll see what 'adding white' and 'softening your light' does.
I'd also highlight the approach Nelson Drum Shop takes, who have among the nicest examples of drum kit photography I've seen from drum shops online. In these two links, they're employing (mainly) one large light source up above the drums a bit, the difference is whether it's on a colour matching paper backdrop (nice touch) or in their shop with the main shop lights either off, or running at a much lower output than the light doing the work in the photo.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DIEqs7ruHrb ... mg_index=1
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJFCXALOTdc ... mg_index=2
To go much more in depth than that begins to head towards needing some photographic knowledge and getting into tutorials etc. Willing to help anyone who wants to shoot something and ask for pointers and/or have specific issues they want solving.