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.