Yearbook PhotographyCapture the Moment

Get the Picture

Get to the event Get close Capture the emotion Use interesting angles Avoid yearbook staff Be a photographer 24/7

How to write good captions(tell me something I don’t know)

Write the Caption

Get the facts straight Get direct quotes from those involved Get correct spelling of all names Get the info on the spot Double-check your info Get signature for quote verification

Remember…

The caption is an extension of the photograph.

Use it to expand the moment in time. What happened before and after the shutter clicked?

What’s in a Caption?

Action lead in “mini-headline”

Begin by listing attention getting words or phrases that come to mind when looking at the picture. Use these for the lead.

What’s in a Caption?

Basic information Who What Where When

Complementary Information

Why How Use quotes for opinions and specific

details

Sample caption

OUT OF TUNE. Embarrassed, Sloane Cotner and Lexi Orozco stand frozen in the center of the gym floor at the Flashback pep rally, unable to remember any of the lyrics to the songs in the Singing Duck contest. “It was really awkward,” Sloane said. No one really won the contest.

We know how to do this.

We have a winning formula for writing captions.

Judges love it. We’re sticking with it.

Our winning caption formula

First sentence: PRESENT tense, tells the basic who, what, where, when

Second sentence: PAST TENSE, gives more info about the event or person pictured

Third sentence: PAST tense, is a quote like this “Quotey quote quote,” Name said.

Second and Third can be switched around.

Caption Formula in practice Lead in: ROCK AND ROLL present tense: Laughing his head off,

Jace Fontenot (09) enjoys his classmates’ presentation of the Myth of Sisyphus in Mrs. Richardson’s English I class.

past tense further info: In this classic Greek myth, Sisyphus has to push a boulder up a hill for eternity.

past tense quote: “Cameron Dupy (09) was excellent in the role of the rock,” Jace said.

Sisyphus (just in case you were wondering)

Vary the lead

There are at least twenty ways to start a caption. Look it up.

Every caption on your spread should have a different lead. Seriously.

WWWWWH. Swap them around.

Vary the lead Jace Fontenot (09) laughs his head off as

he enjoys his classmates’ presentation of the Myth of Sisyphus in Mrs. Richardson’s English I class.

While his classmates present the Myth of Sisyphus in Mrs. Richardson’s English I class, Jace Fontenot (9) laughs his head off.

In Mrs. Richardson’s English I class, Jace Fontenot (9) laughs his head off while his classmates present the Myth of Sisyphus.

Vary the lead Adjective (Wild with excitement,…) Adverb (Colorfully dressed as aliens,…) Infinitive (To engage the crowd,…) Prepositional phrase (Before the big game,

…) Participle (Dressed as aliens,…) Causal (Since the half-time show had…) Conditional (If the drumline performed

perfectly…) Gerund (Playing the Martian Mambo,…)

Do not use

The wrong verb tense The same beginning over and over Predictions Your opinion Many, several, a lot, dedicated, some,

diligently, paid off

Sports Captions These are hard. Get over it. Tell what is happening, using sports

language (not “Zoey runs with the ball.”), but keeping it clear enough for the rest of us to understand.

Identify the players by jersey number. Identify the other team and mascot

(Rockdale Tigers, not just Rockdale). To really do it right, you have to

identify even the players on the other team (!!)

Sports captions…

Name the players Even the one on the other team Name the team (not just mascot) Give the outcome of the play shown Give the outcome of the game or

tournament

More on sports

Give the outcome of the play and game (“Zoey’s touchdown started a rally that led to a 67-48 victory for the Ducks.”)

Don’t say THS or Ducks unless you have to.

Talk to the players and ask them to tell you about what is happening in the photo, and their reactions to it.

Do not accept lame or general quotes like “I a beast.”

Sample sports caption

Preparing to serve, Amy Anderson (11) eyes her opponent in the girls’ singles at the Masonville Open. Amy’s serve was legendary among area tennis players. “She’s quite scary,” said Jenny Jones. Amy placed first in every tournament of the season.

Where do they go?

Captions need to be right next to the photos they describe.

Avoid “gang captions.” All captions must be the same width,

font, etc. and follow the design plan of the section.

Prayers answered

It is now considered acceptable to have only a name (grade) ID for a small photo in a cluster.

Thank goodness. This is ONLY for those tiny photos that

are all clustered together and leave no room for captions. Don’t get lazy.

One last thing…or two… At the end of every caption, put the

photo credit. Like this (note the punctuation): Photo by Ryan Gonzales.

If the photo was provided by someone but we don’t know who took it: Photo courtesy of Amy Schmamy.

Use the styles. Paragraph style for Caption Character style for Caption Lead-In Character style for Photo Credit