Tips for Writing Photo Captions

 

Photo captions help us grab and hold a reader's attention.  If a photo is the first thing a reader looks at on a page, its caption will be the second thing.

 

The words accompanying a photo should be designed to hold a reader's attention. Here are some tips on writing captions:

 

Be accurate. Captions are critical to credibility. You must be sure names are spelled correctly and facts are correct. Compare them with the spelling and facts in the story they illustrate.

 

Don't be repetitious. Don't repeat in the caption the exact wording from the story or headline. For example, if the story says "Bob Brown was indicted in a sweltering courtroom in the murder of 100 rainbow trout," and the headline says "Brown indicted in sweltering courtroom in murder of 100 rainbow trout," the reader won't want to see a photo of Brown captioned "Bob Brown was indicted in a sweltering courtroom in the murder of 100 rainbow trout." Instead, look for a different angle that will pull in a reader even if the headline doesn't. For instance, "Bob Brown was arrested at a bait store in Raeford" or "Bob Brown's mother forced him to eat rainbow trout every day as a boy."

 

A quote is good. A quote from the story can draw in readers. For instance, instead of dull wording such as, "Andrew Walker is seen posing in his office in Laurinburg at Flowerlife Inc., which grows flowers in North Carolina," try something more interesting like, "Growing native North Carolina flowers is as easy as falling off a log," says Andrew Walker, who runs Flowerlife Inc. from this office in Laurinburg." Hopefully, the reader will want to read the story to find out why he would say that.

 

Make the photo clear. Don't use story details at the expense of clarity about the subject of the photo. For example, if you shoot a photo in downtown Lumberton to illustrate a story on doughnut shops, don't just say "Doughnut shops are growing in cities across the country, making retail store architect Jon Lambeau wealthier by $12 million last year." Readers will want to know what your photo shows. Try adding the words "including Lumberton" and leaving out some of the details.

 

Put yourself in their shoes. Ask yourself, "Given the assignment and resulting photo, what can the caption say that will attract readers? What would a reader immediately need or want to know?"