Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Writing <<<
Parts/Starts/Arts
> Contentparts
Types
Ident
Example
Best
Use
Summary
Quote
When the rules changed and only pennies were allowed, I knew we were doomed; but we took fives and
tens to the bank and brought in rolls of pennies to win
with $1248.Senior President Jim Jansen
Expanded
A premium is placed
on the human interest
aspect of the photo with
the subject or someone
closely related to the
activity providing keen
information & insights
A full explanation &
understanding of the importance of the activity or
event can be presented
in a more in-depth written report including all
the 5Ws & H as well as a
direct quote
Collection Most collection captions are two-part. One caption serves as an overview of all photos in the
grouping giving information & insights relevant to all. The second idents/briefly describes each individual photo.
Group Identify the group as well as individual members of the group by first and last names beginning with
front or bottom row and continuing to back or top row.
Bad
Better
> Contentstarts
Adjacent with lead-ins
Number- or letter-coded
Verbal or visual directions
Linear pull-outs
> Contentarts
Best
STRAIGHT TO STATE. Bound for the state championship finals, junior Tom Jansen runs the winning touchdown against arch-rival Central High School in the last
three seconds of the district title game. Tom won MVP
honors setting a school, district and state record for the
most interceptions in a single game with a total of 8
catches.
Do
Capture readers in the first five-seven words of the caption with attention-getting information. Answer the
5Ws & H in order of importance. Use visual nouns and
strong action verbs.
Dont
captions
AT T R A C T I O N
On Your Own
lead-in
List as many attention-getting words and/or phrases that come to mind when
looking at the photo that could serve as the photo-caption connection.
basicinformation
complementaryinformation
Words
> Reader mandates
for more photos have placed
more value on the contributions of well-reported and
well-written captions to communicate the overall story of
the activity or event.
> Reporting
30-45 minutes
By the time you plan
questions, track down your
sources & ask them for
details, you will have invested
at least 30 minutes. More
time will be required if you
need to gather background
information or conduct a
poll/survey to make the story
more meaningful.
> Writing/editing
30 minutes
After information has been
collected you will need to devote time to prioritizing details
& quotes which best tell the
story not obvious in the photo
action/reaction. Carefully consider each part of the caption
in this
module
When writing...
When editing...