DigPhotog: Writing Captions in Photojournalism (W12-P6) Fa15

Besides composing a good photograph, photographers may also be involved in another type of composition. Photographers, especially photojournalist, may also compose captions for their photographs.

Source

They say that a picture is worth a thousand words.

If that is true for news photographs, then the caption (the verbal description) for the photograph, is like the lead to the thousand word story.

In a news article, the first few sentences of the story is the lead. The lead tells the reader the who, what, when, where, why and how of the story. Packed into the lead is quick overview of the whole news story.*


So, as Kobre' points out in his book, Photojournalism: The Professionals' Approach, a caption should tell the reader/viewer the who, what, when, where, why and how of the photograph.  The caption serves the same purpose as a lead in a written news story. [If your interest is specifically in photojournalism, I'd strongly recommend Kobre's book.]

The 5 W's and the H of a news story (or in this case, a news photograph):

• Who - who is the news event about, who is in the photo?
• What - what happened in the news event, what is happening in the photo?
• When - when did the news event happen, when was the photo taken?
• Where - where did the news event happen, where was the photo taken?
• Why (1) - why did the news event happen, what happened that lead to the photograph, what happened before?
• Why (2) - what is the significance of the news event, why is it important to us, what is going to happen after this event?
• How - how did the event happen?

So, a lead in a written news story should answer the who, what, when, where and how of the new event and sometimes it'll address the why and how.

Now, if a caption of a news photograph is like the lead of a news story, then what does a caption include.

The Associated Press recommends a caption should contain two concise sentences. The first sentence of the caption should include the who, what, when and where.  The second sentence should provide the background information on the how and the why, especially the significance of the news event.

Tip: Start the first sentence with the most important thing to your audience.  If who is important, then start with who.  For example, if a celebrity is the who, then you'll probably want to start your sentence with that person's name. If the where is important, then start your first sentence with where.  For example, if a disease is breaking out is a certain area, then the location or where, is probably more important.

Check out AP's Top Photos of the Week page for current examples of news photographs and their captions. Hover the mouse over the photos to see the captions.  Do the AP photographers and photo editors practice what the AP style guidelines recommend?

Can you write a caption for a new photo?  Find some photos you know something about, perhaps from the AP link above or this link, and see if you can write a caption for the photo.  Practice. practice, practice.


* We're especially talking about hard news stories here.

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DigPhotog: An Intro to Photojournalism (W12-P5) [VID] Fa15

Earlier we've spoken of the power of photography to move, to motivate people.
More recently we've spoken of the rights and responsibilities of a photographer.  
And, we've touched on the role of the photographer in society.

This brings us to a powerful quote from Gordon Parks.

Parks once said: "I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera."

It is the photojournalist then who could and should be the soldier on the front lines fighting.  Parks was a photojournalist.

Who is a photojournalist and what do they do?

The following videos provide a good overview of photojournalism from rules and tips to what it is like to be a photojournalist.

First, let's get a feel for what it is like to be a photojournalist.

"A Day in the Life of a Photojournalist"


"Insight into Photojournalism - David Dare Parker" - Freelance Photojournalist - The International Angle




In the "Photojournalism Tutorial" video below pay close attention to (1) the definition of photojournalism, (2) the three key rules of journalism/photojournalism, (3) the rules of the field and (4) the tips for being a good photojournalist.

"Photojournalism Tutorial"

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MassMedia: Advertising & PR: The A.I.D.A. Formula for Writing Commercials (W12-P2) [VID] Fa15

Below is a clip from the film, Glengary Glen Ross, about four real estate salesmen and  the challenge set before them.


The A.I.D.A marketing formula is something that can help you in your own marketing efforts.

You want to be successful in your media career?  No matter your career path, you will be "marketing" something, "selling" something, "promoting" something, if only that something is yourself.   To be successful, it would be good to know key marketing techniques.

One of those key marketing techniques is the A.I.D.A. formula.  For details, see below.


Did you notice what I just did?  

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The A.I.D.A. formula is a common format used in the writing of commercials.

• Parts of A.I.D.A. Commercial
1. Attention: Get audience’s attention
2. Interest: Keep interest expand attention, tell benefits, use “you,” etc.
3. Desire: Create desire in audience.  Develop some need in the audience members that the product meets.
4. Action: Tell audience what to do. Go to an address, go to web site or call now.

Take a look at the following TV commercial script.  See the parts of the A.I.D.A formula?  What's the need addressed?

A typical commercial script follows a two column format with the video on left and audio on right.  The video column describes what the viewer sees in each part of the commercial and the audio column describes what the audio will hear.

Source: Hillman


There are three major formats of commercials and the A.I.D.A. formula best fits the format called the straight sell.

Format of Commercials

• Straight Sell
• Main “character” is a pitchman who tries to sell product to you.
• Testimonial
• A personal story is told to sell the product. “I use the product. It works for me. So,…”
• Dramatization
• Tell a quick story/mini-drama to sell product.
• Get attention
• Create suspense by creating a problem/need for a character
• Solve the problem/need.  Very often it is the product that solves the problem or meets the need.

The idea of a product meeting a need is mentioned above a few times.  It is important.  There are a variety of ways of talking about human needs, but the classic is Maslow's Heirachy of Needs (see below).

We need the things above.  With this in mind, how would you write a commercial to sell a product?

Take a look at the following, recent commercial.  Does it use A.I.D.A.?  What format?  What need(s)?



What about this one?







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