What makes a good caption?
Good captions are more than just the subject's name and what's going on in the photo. In fact,
if all you do in your caption is explain the activity in the photo, or write, “I took this photo on the
way to class”, it has little or no value to the reader. Good captions incorporate the five W's: Who,
What, Where, When and Why. You can occasionally throw in "How" if the photo is so technically
complicated and interesting that the reader might wonder how it was made. Good captions are
spelled correctly. Good captions are factually accurate. Good captions leave the viewer with few
questions.
Proper spelling and grammar are absolutely critical in caption writing. If you are a poor
speller have a dictionary at your side and don't be afraid to use it. There is no shame in referring
to a dictionary. There is no shame in asking someone else how to spell a word. Overall, spelling
is essential but maybe the most important to your credibility is making sure your subject's name
(and business or organization) is spelled perfectly (this is especially true in photo journalism).
Check ALL names. Don’t assume any spelling of a name, ask. Get phone numbers of subjects in
your photos in case questions arise later. (Again, especially true in journalism and where you
don’t know the subjects.) Proofread and check your captions for spelling and grammar.
Basic information about your subject is another essential for good captions. If you can
use each of the W's you're on your way to a very good caption. The five W’s are who, what,
where, when, why. Every now and then you'll make a photo that is just so cool to look at that
explaining to the reader “How” you made it is not only appropriate but fun. You should not,
however, caption your photos focused on you the photographer. For instance, “I took this while
…”, or “… because I though it was pretty” should not be in your caption.
Make sure the facts you have in your caption are accurate or that you can quote a source
or the subject. Take down this information when you take the shot, often, later you are not sure
exactly where you were, or what exactly was going on when the shot was taken. The caption
should not mislead or confuse either on purpose or by accident.
Captions should not be confusing as to what they are referring to. For instance in a
picture of two boys fishing, if you said, “The boy caught a king salmon”. You would wonder
“which boy”. The caption is ambiguous, meaning that the caption could mean more than one
thing. The boy on the left or the boy on the right? Say instead, “The boy, Steve, on the left,
caught a king salmon.” Many first time captioners write a caption such as, “I took this photo on
the way home.” Not only is this quite uninformative and uninteresting, but you cannot assume the
viewer knows who you are or where home is. Just like the picture is not about you, the caption is
not about you, the photographer, it’s about the subjects in the picture.
But what about writing GREAT captions? Great captions have added value and are well
written. Be a reporter. Get quotes, descriptions and additional information to enrich your caption.
Be a writer. Be creative. Don't be afraid to use language. Use a thesaurus so that you don't
repeat the same descriptive words. The ultimate goal for all of us is to write great captions. Great
captions must be accurate, have useful information for added value and be a good read.
What makes a photo caption a good one? Captions should provide information, they
shouldn’t mislead or confuse, they should refer to people or objects in photos without ambiguity,
they should be relatively short and to the point (2-4 sentences). Start by ensuring you’ve included
the five W’s accurately and you are well along your way to creating a great caption.