The process of caption writing

   This week in photojournalism class my latest assignment was on caption writing. For me, the photo is the first thing I notice when reading an article/story. Captions set an overall impression on photographs featured in articles. Here are the major components of writing captions:

• Captions should include the 5 W's: what, who, where, when and why of a picture
• If the photo is vague, in some cases, how is applied to complete it.
• Every caption needs to be concise, accurate and at least 2 full sentences
• Captions should always be written in present tense
• Well written captions will amplify the explanation of a photo without an audience knowing or reading an article beforehand

   Without captions the reader will not know the full information about the photograph taken. This can confuse the reader's misinterpretation of the picture; making them disinterested in the article altogether. Since photojournalists strive for truth, misrepresentation on a picture is something they try to avoid.