Captions capture the captured image

     If there is one thing I will take away from learning about captions it’s the need you feel to read the stories. We’re all human. We have short attention spans. If we see a story that is 750 words without a photo then we will likely stay away. If that same story in a different paper had two photos with a caption that had the basic who, what, why, when and where included then we would be more inclined to read the story.

     Captions, to me, act as a brief summary for the story. If I’m unsure whether I want to read a story or pass over it I default to looking at the photo and reading the caption. Does it sound interesting? Does it sound scandalous? Does it sound heroic? Does it sound like I’ll be crying by the end?

     Captions give us the quick information we want and they are dependent not on the story but the photo. If you have a story about rescue dogs but a photo of a paw print in the snow chances are you won’t have the greatest caption to pair with the story and photo. Captions capture not only the photo but the story as well.

     The lesson learned? Try to always keep the story in the front of your mind in order to get a great photo for a story because it can make or break who wants to read the story.