Caption Writing
Tips
What is the purpose of a
caption?
• A caption should provide information
about a photo.
• A caption should entice the viewer to
learn more about the subject and read
the story.
• A caption should NOT leave any
questions in the reader’s mind.
• A caption is like a mini news story.
Importance of captions
• According to Ken Kobre, a caption is
the most read but least carefully written
text in most publications!
• Readers often decide if they will read
an article based on what they glean
from a picture and caption.
What information should be
in your caption?
5 Ws and H
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How (How much/How many?)
A one-sentence caption
• A caption is generally a single sentence
but a second sentence can be added if
additional context or explanation is
needed. (Reuters handbook)
• A second sentence could also include
an interesting fact or a quote.
AP Caption formula
• The first sentence describes who is
doing what in the photo and states
where and when the photo was made
(in that order.) It must always include
the day and date the photo was made.
• Use present tense.
Second sentence
• Gives the background of the news
event and describes why the photo is
significant (news value.)
WHO
• Who is in the picture?
• Name, age, occupation
• Organization name and title
• Connection with the incident being
reported
• Identify people from left to right
to R)
(L
CQ
• cq is used to indicate to the copy desk
that an unusual spelling of a name is
correct
Examples
• Mary Gima, 89, a resident at Nikkei
Senior Gardens
• San Francisco State University senior
Kelly Goff
• Artist Monika (cq) Del Bosque
• Pierce College speech professor
Jennifer Rosenberg
• Pre-schooler Kaden Will, age 4,
California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, right,
laughs with Ms.
International winner
Yaxeni Oriquen, of Brazil,
after presenting her with
the trophy Friday, Feb.
29, 2008, in Columbus,
Ohio. Oriquen won her
fourth Ms. International
competition. (AP
Photo/Jay LaPrete)
• The second sentence explains why or
how this image is an important piece
of news.
•Oriquen won her fourth Ms. International
competition. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
• The second sentence explains why or
how this image is an important piece
of news.
•Oriquen won her fourth Ms. International
competition. (AP Photo/Jay LaPrete)
To publish or not to publish?
• Many editors will not run a photograph if
the caption doesn’t include the full
names of the identifiable people in the
image.
6 is a Crowd
• For close-up shots with 5 people or
fewer, you need to get everyone’s
name.
• For a crowd, it is not necessary -- or
even possible -- to identify everyone.
• For a crowd, identify the groupings,
such as football fans, striking teachers,
Occupy protesters, etc.
The crew of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered submarine USS Georgia bow their
heads in prayer aboard the sub during a return to service ceremony, Friday, March 28,
2008 in Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base, Ga. The Georgia is the last of four
submarines in the Ohio class to undergo the $1 billion conversion. The others are
Florida, Ohio and Michigan. The subs are converted to carry cruise missiles instead
of intercontinental ballistic missiles. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton)
WHAT
• What is happening in the picture? Be
specific. Don’t assume the reader can
tell. Use an action verb.
• Remember to write in present tense to
make it more immediate.
When
• When did this happen?
• Use the month, day and year.
• Time is only necessary if it is relevant to
the story.
• Strict AP Style includes the day.
David Wentz, 16, holds a fossilized shark tooth, Wednesday, March 26,
2008, inside his home in Port Huron, Mich. Wentz found the tooth while
snorkeling with his brother Shaun, 21, off a Marysville (Michigan) beach at
the end of summer last year. (AP Photo/Times Herald, Melissa Wawzysko)
AP style note for the Date
• Abbreviate Jan., Feb. Aug., Sept., Oct.,
Nov. and Dec.
• Write out March, April, May, June, July
Where
• Where did it happen?
• Include city and state.
• If relevant, include a specific location
such as a building or classroom on
campus.
AP Style Note
• Use the abbreviations, not the Postal
Service designations. For example,
California is Calif., NOT CA.
• Do not abbreviate Alaska, Hawaii,
Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Ohio, Texas and
Utah.
Why
• Explain why something is happening.
• The why part of the caption provides a
depth of news value to your photograph
and puts the image in context.
• This is where the real reporting begins.
• Look for a news peg.
14-02-2005 Beirut, Lebanon
A man shouts for help at the scene of the truck-bomb explosion that killed former Lebanese
prime minister Rafik Hariri. Twenty other people were killed in the blast, which appeared
aimed at the politician's motorcade. Hariri had resigned as premier to join the opposition four
months earlier, and was aiming at making a comeback in May elections. Opposition leaders
blamed the Lebanese and Syrian governments for the killing, calling for the government's
resignation and the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. (Photo: Mohamad
Azakir /Reuters )
How
• This could be how much (damages,
cost, profits, etc.)
• How many (in attendance, injuries, etc.)
• How something came about (the cause
of the accident, the reason for the
arrest)
Stand alone
• When you have a stand alone photo
(sometimes called wild art when it is a
feature photo), the longer the caption
and the more information, the better. It
is like a mini news story.
• The fingers of malnourished Alassa Galisou
(1) are pressed against the lips of his mother
Fatou Ousseini at an emergency feeding
center. One of the worst droughts in recent
times, together with a particularly heavy
plague of locusts that had destroyed the
previous year's harvest, left millions of people
severely short of food. Heavy rains promised
well for the 2005 crops, but hindered aid
workers bringing supplies. Relief had been
slow to come. Accusations were leveled
variously blaming the United Nations,
Western governments, the international aid
community and officials in Niger itself for
Be Concise, be precise
• Accuracy is important.
• Ask people how to spell their names.
• Don’t get information secondhand.
• Stick to what the photos show and what
you know.
• Explain only what you have witnessed.
• All other info must be sourced.
Don’t editorialize
• Stick to the facts.
• Don’t assume what people are thinking
or feeling.
• Refrain from using descriptive terms.
Some other info to include
• A caption can point out a small detail in
a photo that a reader may overlook.
• A caption should clearly explain if any
unusual photo techniques were used to
make the image.
Photo credit
• Photographers should include their
photo credit in the caption. Style varies
by publication.
• Jill Connelly for the New York Times
• Jill Connelly/AP
• AP Photo/Jill Connelly
Los Angeles Clippers' Corey Maggette makes a pass around Philadelphia 76ers' Samuel Dalembert of
Haiti during the first quarter Friday, Dec. 26, 2003, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jill Connelly)
Spot News
• Get the name, phone number, department
affiliation and station of police officers on
the scene.
• The fire station and engine numbers of
fire equipment.
• Victims, if safe and possible.
• Get location of where victims are
Other Types of photos
•
•A handout photo is provided by someone else to the
publication, not taken by the newspaper’s staff or
•
freelance photographers. The source should be credited.
•
Photo courtesy of the Smith family
•
• A photo illustration can be set up or made in Photoshop;
it should be clearly labeled.
•
Photo Illustration by Jill Connelly
•
• A file photo is not current, it is taken from the archives
and should be labeled as such.
•
File Photo
Firefighters Jeffrey Bredstrand, left, of the Seattle Fire Dept., Cody Ramstad, of Eastside Fire
& Rescue of Issaquah, Wash., and Kelly McNab, of New Zealand Fire, rest after racing up
1,311 stairs in competition Sunday, March 2, 2008, in the Columbia Center tower in Seattle.
More than 1,000 firefighters from throughout the U.S., as well as Canada and New Zealand,
raced 788 vertical feet up 69 floors in the 17th annual stair climb at the tower, in a benefit for
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Additional info for sports
captions
• A sports photo often sums up the game
in a single image.
• Sports captions should include the 5Ws
and H.
• Include the final score as the second
sentence of the caption.
• Explain the significance of a play.
Spain's Rafael Nadal returns the ball to Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber
during the second day of the Emirates Dubai Tennis Championships in
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tuesday, March. 4, 2008.(AP Photo/Nousha
Salimi)
Tips for getting good sports
captions
• Get a roster for both teams.
• Confirm the info on the roster, including
spelling of players’ names.
• Keep shooting after the peak action so
you get a clear shot of the numbers to
identify the players for captions.
• Take notes during the game.
Sports captions
• Photograph the scoreboard to help you
keep track of when plays occur.
the copy desk
• Published captions will often be
different than the caption you submit
with your photo.
• The caption you attach to the photo is
important for archival purposes as a
historical record even if it doesn’t end
up in the published caption.
A copy editor
• Reads the caption.
• Reads the story.
• The copy editor then edits the caption
into a synopsis that explains the photo
and its relationship to the story.
• A caption might also be edited for
reasons of space and design.
Caption or cutline?
• Some use the terms interchangeably.
• Others say one is a newspaper term,
the other a magazine.
troubleshooting captions
Contest Caption examples
•
Distraught mom and Teenimpactdrivers.org advocate, Martha
Tessmer states how distracted teen drivers took away her son.Photo
by 555-1556
No date or place, would have been improved with a WHY.
Martha Tessmer speaks about her son, Donovan Haley Tessmer, who died in a car accident,
because his girlfriend got distracted at the wheel while driving. Donovan was a high school
football player with great chances at getting a scholarship, and displayed next to her is his
football signed by his high school football team. As family photos display behind her, she speaks
about the fatal risks of being distracted while driving, at a press conference in the Wilshire Grand
Hotel in Los Angeles, Calif. promoting safer driving for teens. 555-444
Great caption but no date!
Martha Tessmer spoke at a press conference April 9, 2010 at the Wilshire Grand Hotel
in Los Angeles, Calif., regarding the dangers of distracted driving. Donovan,
Tessmer's 17-year-old son, died in a auto accident caused be a distracted driver on
July 8, 2007. According to the United Service Automobile Association, teen drivers
have the highest crash involvemnet and fatalitly rates of any group. 555-3333
Great image. This was a tough one. Judges were in the audience and recalled Tessmer saying they would
celebrate his birthday in two weeks. So technically he was probably still 16 when he died. However, it was
possible that he was 17 and they were having a party in two weeks. Photographer got a fact wrong.
Photog should have asked the mother to clarify. There were also spelling errors.
•
•
Officer Ran Narayan reflects on
traaffic flow do to The Big Build project
at the Sacramento International Airport
on Friday, April 8, 2011. "No problems
withtraffic. Just a little congested." Said
officer Narayan. "People understand
there is construction going on." Photo
By 555-1949
Great to get quotes, no city or state.
•
4/08/11 Construction nears end at Sacramento International airport's new
terminal B
by:555-1969
There is a lot missing here: no who, what they are doing and why, city, state, date should be part of
sentence and written out. (Also as far as composition, photo is taken from too far away, has a lot of
dead space and no center of interest.)
resources
• http://handbook.reuters.com/index.php/
A_Brief_Guide_to_Standards%2C_Pho
toshop_and_Captions
• The Associated Press Style Book and
Libel Manual
Thanks
• Photos credits: Jill Connelly
Photogaphy, AP, JACC, World Press,
the New York Times, sacbee.com, The
Globe and Mail, CPOY.
• Photo research: Jill Connelly and
Gerard Burkhart