Caption

1. COMPLIMENTARY INFO

1.1. Complimentary information (C) is a past-tense sentence telling the reader something he cannot see from the photo itself, like how much money was raised in the fundraiser or who won the game.

2. DIRECT QUOTE

2.1. A Direct quote (D) should be a unique quote from someone in the photo discussing an aspect of the event in the photo. This should not be a fact. Get quotable quotes. How did the person FEEL?

3. do

3.1. • List three to fi ve words that grab the reader’s attention and link the photo and caption together • Lead-in states the obvious in an unobvious way • Include the fi ve Ws and H • Use a variety of adjectives and adverbs • Be descriptive • Use strong, visual specifi c nouns • Consider the action before and during the photo and reaction to the event • Use colorful, lively, visual action verbs • Write in present tense, active voice (unless changing tenses to make it logical) • Be factual • Use a variety of sentence patterns • Identify all people in picture (up to seven) • Use complete sentences • Use fi rst and last names

4. SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

4.1. FOR SPORTS CAPTIONS

4.2. FOR GROUP SHOTS

4.2.1. (TEAM PHOTOS OR CLUB GROUP PICTURES)

4.3. HELPFUL HINTS

5. ATTENTION GETTER

5.1. An attention getter (A) is like a mini headline. It’s a direct link from the caption to the photo it is describing.

6. BASIC INFO

6.1. Basic information (B) is a present-tense sentence telling who is in the photo (name up to seven people) and what he or they are doing

7. KNOW THE DON’TS...

7.1. • Don’t state the obvious • Don’t begin leads with names or overuse same lead pattern • Don’t use label leads (example: basketball girls, swimmers, etc.) • Don’t use an excessive amount of –ing verbs • Avoid “During” to begin your lead as it’s overused • Don’t use “Pictured/Showed Above,” “Seems/Attempts to” • Avoid using “to be” verbs • Don’t use “gag” or joke captions • Don’t comment or question the action in the picture; you are telling the reader what happened, not conversing with him

8. A Simple Approach to Great Captions

8.1. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but the stories within them are incomplete without captions.

8.2. caption writing was a good choice for a video and lesson plan because captions are important in yearbooks.

8.3. caption writing is easier to approach because it’s a group of smaller pieces instead of a multi-paragraph article.