How to build a light box

Some people asked for a tutorial, some rolled their eyes at me and snubbed the idea of being "so easy" a cave man could do it. But I'm doing one anyway~ 

I decided to divulge in a light box because of 2 reasons, I needed to shoot some truffles for a gal pal of mine and we could only meet at night, and I wanted new lamps. Usually I would just use a flash and high ISO but it turns out grainy and reflections are hard to control. This way I'm able to use 200 ISO and have no shadows, which in my book is awesome.

So I took to the internet and found a simple design and got to work. 

Though my little box worked perfectly for my shoot I think I'm going to build another using a PVC pipe frame, and 2 layers of cloth. 

Items you need for a simple design

Large cardboard box

Box cutter knife

hot glue gun with glue (duh)

White muslin- and I mean white not cream

White duct tape

Poster board. 

3 Clamp lamps with 100 watt lightbulbs (as bright as sunlight)

Cut three picture frames in the sides of the box 

Like so

The first two images are not mine and belong to these nice folks over at  Neverhomemaker

After cutting out your holes hot glue your fabric in a neatish fashion around each frame on the cardboard bit. I then used white duct tape and sealed the deal all over, I also painted the inside white but that's not required I was just testing a theory. Using the poster board cut it the same length and width of the box and slide it in and upward creating a ramp, this eliminates the corners and creates a smooth background.
Then prop up your box somewhere- at Jenny's house the most logical location was on this chair, and I couldn't clamp the top lamp so that got really hot. Be careful when doing this, it could theoretically catch fire, and that would be bad.

 See how the box bows? That means I cut too much and there isn't enough support. BOO. Oh well I'll just build another one!

I think it worked for the most part though!