1. Bringing Pictures To Life
Captions
Bringing Pictures To Life

2. Captions Basics
A captions content should combine with a picture to tell a story.
Captions should do more than state the obvious.
Captions are not well written if they repeat what is obvious in the photo.
Captions should add to what is obvious.
Names are essential.
To go beyond the obvious, you could give details about what is happening, what happened before the picture was taken, or what happened after the picture was taken.
Could also include quotes from the subjects of the photo.

3. Captions Basics Captions answer readers’ questions about a photo.
When readers looks at a photo, they want to know the 5Ws and H.
These questions cannot always be answered by looking at the picture.
Captions give readers the answers to the 5Ws and H.
Caption writing requires reporting.
Caption writers should contact the people in the photo and interview them to get quotes and background information.
Direct quotes from individuals in the photo add depth.
Not all pictures require or call for the use of quotes.

4. Good Caption Summary. . . answer the 5Ws & H
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
How?
provide “go beyond” information
give information that goes beyond the picture
tell readers about the event
describe the best memories of the event
tell us something we can’t see/know from the photo

5. What questions do you have?

6. Get the Answers Who: senior Jason Chastain
What: dances hat dance with mom
When: final pep rally
Where: commons area
Why: tradition, honor
How: selected by teammates
Go beyond the picture: “I barely remember shoving my way through the crowd to where my mom was waiting for me at the ‘W’. I just remember thinking that I couldn’t look at her or I would start crying. She danced the dance with me—that moment I will never ever forget.”

7. Types of Captions: Idents
Jason Chastain OR
Senior Jason Chastain
| senior football captain
| senior football captain dancing pep rally hat dance
Instructor: Consider telling the students the following:
When longer captions are impractical or unnecessary, the simple ident is the way to go. It is particularly effective to use with photo collections.
Ident Captions: Identify individuals and offer a BRIEF explanation of the photo’s content. Use ident captions with smaller pictures.

8. Types of Captions: Summary
DANCE
MACHINES
Amid a frenzied crowd of fans, senior Jason Chastain joins his mother to perform the traditional hat dance as the finale to the state championship football playoff game rally.
Instructor: Consider telling the students the following:
The summary caption provides the basic information and it is written in present tense. It is necessary to vary sentence structure, avoiding names of people or groups as openers.
Summary Captions: Highlight the most important aspects of the 5W’s and H. Use summary captions for medium pictures.

9. Types of Captions: Expanded
DANCE
MACHINES
Amid a frenzied crowd of fans, senior Jason Chastain joins his mother to perform the traditional hat dance as the finale to the state championship football playoff game rally. The Chaps won the game posting its first state championship in the history of the school.
Instructor: Consider telling the students the following:
The summary caption provides the basic information and it is written in present tense. It is necessary to vary sentence structure, avoiding names of people or groups as openers.
Expanded Captions: Answer the 5Ws and H AND provide details that go beyond the picture. Use expanded captions with dominant photos.

10. Types of Captions: Quotation
DANCE
MACHINES
“I barely remember shoving my way through the crowd to where my mom was waiting for me at the ‘W’. I just remember thinking that I couldn’t look at her or I would start crying. She danced the dance with me—that moment I will never ever forget.”
Jason Chastain, senior
Instructor: Consider telling the students the following:
The summary caption provides the basic information and it is written in present tense. It is necessary to vary sentence structure, avoiding names of people or groups as openers.
Quote Captions: Provide insight and information through the words of the subject of the photo or someone closely related to the activity. Use quote captions with dominant photos.

11. Caption Design
Lead-in: attention getting word or phrase relating to the action/reaction of the photo.
1st Sentence: identifies individuals and explains what is happening.
Written in present tense
Gives first and last names of individuals
Gives grade of each individual
reports who, what, where in 5-10 words (ish)
2nd+ Sentence: adds information and details not obvious in the photo.
Written in past tense
Information should enhance the story
2nd Sentence is not always needed (depending on the type of caption)

12. Find the three parts of this caption
PHONE HOME. After having just been named senior homecoming maids, Maria Gonzales and Jennifer Williams take a picture of themselves at the pep rally. Maria and Jennifer have been friends since kindergarten and wanted to send a quick picture to their family and friends.

13. Caption Design with Several Pictures
FRAMED. Freshman Trey Whitman (11) checks the door frame of the front of the curio cabinet he inspects during Career Day. SMOOTH MOVES. A special clinic at the Performing Arts Center refines dance technique for seniors Lissette Colver (10) and Meredith Moore (12). LOOK UP. Studying an outdoor sculpture, sophomore Beth Ann Terry (9) classifies it as “modern.”
Instructor: Consider telling the students the following:
When designing a photo collection, pay attention to caption possibilities. Make sure that the lead-ins tie the captions to the pictures. The reader shouldn’t be left wondering.

14. Writing Captions Step One: Interview
Gather information to answer the 5Ws and H.
Who? Identify the key people in the picture with correctly spelled names and grades.
What? Accurately describe the action of the photo.
Where? Be descriptive; capture sights and sounds.
When? Be specific; mention the time element when important (not always important).
Why? The reason for the action of the photo.
How? Details that explain the action of the photo.

15. Writing Captions Step One: Interview Get “Go Beyond” information.
Quality questions get quality answers.
Two of the best questions to ask for good “Go Beyond” information:
Describe your best memory of the event.
This question allows people in the photo to share insights in their own words.
Tell us something we can’t see from the photo.
The people in the photo always know interesting things that aren’t obvious by looking at the photo.

16. Writing Captions Step Two: Brainstorm
Create a verbal-visual connection by brainstorming a list of attention getting impact words that come to mind when looking at the photograph.
Strive for image-evoking nouns and strong, action verbs. Look for words and phrases used by the person in the photo during your interview.
Select the best option for the caption lead-in.

17. Writing Captions Step 3: Write For an ident caption
Identify the subjects of the photo
Briefly explain what is happening.
For a summary caption
Write a detailed sentence, in present tense
Describe the action in the photo and report the most important 5Ws and H to answer all essential questions.
For an expanded caption
Write a second sentence, in past tense
Provide details not obvious in the photo, emphasizing the “how” and “why.”
For a quotation caption
Provide details not obvious in the photo and feature a quote.

18. Practice Makes Perfect
Write an ident caption for this photo.
Make sure to include:
Lead-in
Identification of the photo subjects
Brief explanation of what is happening

19. Practice Makes Perfect
Write a summary caption for this picture.
Make sure to include:
Lead-in
Detailed sentence in present tense that reports the most important 5Ws and H.

20. Practice Makes Perfect
Write an expanded or quote caption for this picture.
Make sure to include:
Lead-in
Detailed 1st sentence in present tense that reports the most important 5Ws and H.
2nd sentence in past tense that provides details not obvious in the photo, emphasizing the “how” and “why.”