Captions, short sweet and to the point

When it comes to photojournalism there is only thing that can make your picture clearer than it already is, and that’s a well-written caption.

           To write a good caption, think of the 5 W’s and the H: who, what, where, when, why and how. A good caption tells the acts and contains at least 2 sentences.

·         The first sentence, which should be in present tense, tells who is in the photo, and what is going on in the photo. This information is followed up by where the photo was taken, and when, including the day of the week.

·         The second sentence for your photo caption gives a background; this sentence is usually in the past tense.

This should be all you need for good caption.

When writing a caption think about the image. Words can change or modify the meaning of the image. You want to be clear and make sure your words are accurately written.

A caption is also where you can add information that explains an image is posed or altered in any way.

In writing a caption people should be identified from left to right.

Always, and I stress always because I have personally dealt with this, make sure you spell the names of the people in your photos correctly. I cannot tell you how many times my name has been spelled wrong! Write it down, or make the person write it down, then spell it back to them if you’re not sure. Just make sure you spell the names right.

When writing a caption for a gallery of images, stick to the facts and try to be creative with your words. There are only so many ways to describe one thing.

Let your image speak for itself, and keep the caption short, sweet and to the point.

The First Amendment seen through my eyes

The First Amendment: 

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 

   This one statement means so much to so many people, and for each person a different reason. 

   In my eyes this is a statement that will protect me in my future, even more than it does already. See, in my future I plan to be a photojournalist. In this field the First Amendment helps us tell the public the truth under almost any circumstance. 

   The press faces challenges regarding the First Amendment every day; sometimes for videotaping, other times just for taking pictures. As long as you follow the rules and stay where you are supposed to be, the only thing you should have to think about is ethics. 

  To me the most important part of this amendment is freedom of speech because without it the others just seem irrelevant. Without the freedom to say what we want, to express our opinions and do without consequence, do we really have freedom?

 

 

All experience is good experience

Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo by Amanda Aylwin

   Recently I was faced with a decision regarding my position as photo editor for the Owens Outlook In the decision I was torn between being photo editor, which would greatly benefit my future career, or stepping up as sports editor. I love sports, I grew up around sports so it just comes naturally for me to want to shoot and write about sports. This and knowing the photo editor position was going to be in good hands helped me make the ultimate decision to take the sports editor position.

   I hope in taking this position it helps my newspaper staff, my team, in being the all around great newspaper staff that we can be.

   I look to my team for help and support in taking this position and look forward to the learning experience, because in this decision I realized that though I will need to know photo editing in the future ... all experience is good experience.