The purpose of this article is to help all volunteers understand and learn the best way to take best pictures for the grind size calculator/converter project, and “to photograph the coffee grounds in the best environment… to reduce all variables to make the particle analysis easier.” (Robert McKeon Aloe)
This article is based on Robert McKeon Aloe‘s article Photographing Coffee Grounds for Grind Distribution Analysis published on March 5, 2021, see original article here.
Step 1. Prepare the Environment
If you will take the pictures at home, make sure you can find a place where you can control the lightning easily to avoid harsh shadows. If you have a lightbox or photography studio, you skip this step.
- Turn off most overhead light
- Close window blinds
Step 2. Prepare the Coffee Grounds
- Grind 3 or 4 beans
- Start with a small pinch of coffee
- Use a fine brush to tap lightly on the grounds to help separate the finer particles from the coarser
Step 3. Take Pictures
- Place a 8.5 x 11 inches or A4 paper on a flat surface.
- Sprinkle around from a foot above the piece of paper, use your brush or toothpick to separate the particles clustered together.
- Place the coin close to the centre, and a small piece of note that identifying your grind setting (the number of clicks).
- Level the phone one foot or so above the page so that the entire page is visible in the field of view.
- Get your camera /smart phone ready, and turn the flash on.
- Take pictures, make sure all photos are sharp.
Bonus: Turn on one of the zoom lens from the same height and take a picture.
Click to check details
Step 4. Upload your images to the survey
With these steps, you can get some good images of your coffee grinds, and then it can be easier to do particle analysis. After taking all photos needed, click here to submit your grinding result, we will take care of the rest analysis. If you want to help us run the analysis, please let us know. We need your help!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us on volunteer group chat. Thank you for your support.
About Robert McKeon Aloe
“I’m in love with my Wife, my Kids, Espresso, Data Science, tomatoes, cooking, engineering, talking, family, Paris, and Italy, not necessarily in that order.” You can follow Robert on Twitter and YouTube where I post videos of espresso shots on different machines and espresso related stuff. You can also find me on LinkedIn. You can also follow me on Medium.
