The caption supplements the photograph byanswering the five Ws. It provides clarification ofimportant details that are not readily apparent in thephotograph, To make a caption work, you must use threebasic elements:An explanation of the subjectIdentification of persons or things in the pictureAdditional details of background informationIn caption writing, the first sentence is the mostimportant. It must describe the action withoutoveremphasizing the obvious. Always use the activevoice of the verb and write in the present tense. Anotherimportant consideration in caption writing isbackground information. This consists of additionalfacts or explanations needed to clarify the photo. Theamount of background information included depends onwhere the picture will be located and how it will be used.Whether the photo will be printed in a military or acivilian publication, used in a report, or used as a displaypicture is of primary importance. The caption explaininga picture of a sailor wearing an oxygen breathingapparatus to a civilian is more difficult than explainingit to another sailor.The second consideration, how the photograph is tobe used, refers to whether it will be used alone, as asingle picture, or used in conjunction with somethingelse, such as a news story or report. When the picture isto accompany a news story or a report, the captionshould not repeat details used in the text. On the otherhand, when the photograph is to be used as a singlepicture, it must tell the whole story, and the amount ofbackground information must be enough to provide thereader with all the necessary details. In other words, thecaption and picture combination must tell the completestory.The answers to the five Ws should be given invigorous, forceful language without sacrificingsimplicity and brevity.WHO–Give as much information as possible aboutthe personnel shown in the photograph, beginning withpaygrade, rate, or rank and full name.WHAT–Used to identify ships, aircraft, awards, andother things shown in the photograph.WHERE–Identifies the location of the event.WHEN–The actual time or date of the event.WHY–The reason for a particular operation oraction taking place.The novice caption writer is often confronted withthe problem of how long to make the caption. Althoughthere is no prescribed length for captions, the generalrule is one paragraph, preferably in 50 words or less.Caption content is your last opportunity to tell whatmakes a photograph significant. The shorter you makethe caption and still tell a complete story, the better.There is no best way to write a caption. There are,however, rules that make caption writing easier. Oneproven method is to make use of the three basicelements: explain the action, identify persons orthings in the photograph, and give necessarybackground information.EXPLAIN THE ACTIONThe first of the three elements, explain the action, isthe most important part of the caption. The very firstsentence must link the caption to the photograph bydescribing the action. One of the peculiarities of the firstsentence in caption writing is its verb form. Since aphotograph has “frozen” a moment in time, the verbshould be written in present tense. This provides a senseof immediacy, as though the reader is actuallywitnessing the event. For example:"Petty Officer Second Class Paul T. Boatswims through swirling flood waters of the St.Johns River to rescue 6-year-old SammyCameron . . . ."This has more dramatic impact than a caption whichreads:"Petty Officer Second Class Jane B. Doe swamthrough . . . ."There is, however, one problem that arises from the useof present tense in the first sentence. What to do withthe “when” or time element? If the when or timeelement is included in the first sentence, the result readssomething like this:“Pete Rose hit a line drive to center fieldyesterday . . . .”A sentence, such as this, would be somewhat jarring tothe reader and should be avoided. To alleviate theproblem, you should leave out the when or time elementof the first sentence when writing captions, thusavoiding an awkward shift in tense.6-13
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