The difference between photographers and photojournalists is that photojournalists are paid to report; photographers are not.

Photojournalism is more than just snapping pictures. That’s for amateurs. When on assignment, it’s as important to gather written notes about a scene, including information from the people in the photo, as it is to capture the visual image. Caption information is vital and without it a photo will not be published.

Form

Quality captions are two to three sentences. The first sentence is present tense and generally explains what is going on in the photo. Avoid starting the caption with a name. Too many captions start with a name and make the captions seem monotonous and repetitive. The rest of the caption is in past tense and gives background information on the person, place, event, or action. Subsequent sentences add information, particularly in stand-alone, “wild art” photos, and may include quotes from people involved in the action, whether they’re in the picture or not. Quotes tie the written word and photograph to a real person.

Caption writers should go beyond just telling what is in the picture. They should serve as reporters as well. The photographer should talk to the people he is taking pictures of and gather quotes to put in the caption. Quotes add to the value of the picture and give credibility to not only the photograph, but the photographer as well.

All captions should include the name of all identifyable people including their name, grade and major or title and affiliation.

Goals

All captions should answer six basic questions; who, what, when, where, how and why. The first sentence should easily take care of who, what, when and where. The rest of the caption explains why and how.

The American Press Institute writes that a photo caption should accomplish four main things:

• Explain the action: The caption should describe what is happening in the picture.
• Name the principals: It should name the people or objects that are prominent in the picture.
• Tell why the photo is running: What is the significance of the photo to the story?
• Note the important or telling details of the photo: What separates this photo from others taken?

Just like the writer of the story, a caption writer should be writing the caption in active, not passive voice. Photographers should make sure the caption is easy to read and does not contain misspellings or incorrect facts.

Here’s an example of a poorly written caption: “Gov. Rick Perry discusses a plan for security of the Texas-Mexico border.” All that caption does is state the obvious.

Take the same topic and add some detail. “Surrounded by law-enforcement agents, Gov. Rick Perry discusses a plan for security of the Texas-Mexico border Thursday in San Antonio. Prompted by a wave of legislation at the national level, Perry said his state had to do something to get control of the border, control he estimated would cost $100 million. “We’re not going to turn out backs on the people of the Texas border,” Perry said.

All captions are the responsibility of the photographer who shoots the assignment and they should be held accountable for quality work and accuracy just like the reporters they are.