Photo Journalism 4(1+3)

Lesson 13 : The Caption

Rules of caption writing

The good caption writer also follows these rules of caption writing:

1. Study the photograph
2. Don’t describe features that are obvious.
3. Explain everything that the reader, at first glance, might misinterpret.
4. Use present tense when describing action taking place in the photo.
5. Use past tense when giving additional details that do not describe action in the photo.
6. Don’t mix past and present tenses in a single sentence.
7. Don’t use phrases such as “ show here” or “ pictured here”
8. Tell the reader that the photo is. Don’t try to tell the reader what the photo seems to be or what the picture isn’t.
9. Make the cutline fit the photo. If it is a disaster photo, stick with the facts. For a feature photo, more creative writing might be appropriate.
10. When writing cutline for a “wild” photo answer all the basic questions just as you would in news story.
11. If a picture accompanies a story, write a flash line (one line) that identifies the people and the action. Do not repeat any information in the flash line that is contained in the accompanying story.
12. In photos whose only action is obvious (receiving an award) use only name lines.
13. In identifying subjects in the picture, write “from left,” not “ from left to right”
14. In pictures where the identification of one subject makes the identity of the other(s) unmistakable the “from left’ is usually unnecessary.
15. Supplying caption material can be a problem on fast breaking news stories. But words are always a “necessity” in photojournalism. A published report is best when it balances words and pictures that communicate clearly to the reader.