The Associated Press has specific guidelines for writing captions and most journalistic institutions follow this style. We will practice and follow this style for any and every caption you write for a photo.
For starters, captions can be one sentence but are usually better with two sentences because it can add context without creating a ridiculously long run on sentence. But captions should be as long as needed to answer the basic journalistic questions. The first sentence, almost always written in present tense, describes the action seen in the photo. The second part gives context to the image. This part is usually written in past tense and describes why the action, situation or content of the picture is important or interesting.
Names of companies, team, institutions should be spelled out on first reference and may be abbreviated on second reference (use "University of Kentucky" first, then use "UK" if you need it the second time. Not everyone on the planet thinks "UK" is the University of Kentucky.)
In the first sentence,
- Your caption should identify who is in the picture and why they are significant (titles, if they have one). All names must be spelled correctly with the correct name on the correct person. Identify people from left to right. If they are students, it is common to include their year and major.
- Tell us what is in the picture? Write so that you’re completing a story, not just describing literally what’s in the picture. This is written in the present tense.
- When? The DATE, including the day of the week, date and year must appear in the body of all captions. Your images will be history some day. (Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007)
- Where? Be specific. Follow AP style for geographic locations. Use city and state. The correct style for our city is Lexington, Ky.
A second sentence may explain more context and needed attribution for "action not seen." It may help explain the circumstances and why it is relevant or adds to the story package. Each publication may have their own style for photo credits, but the examples below demonstrate AP Style. Anticipating the possibility of the "re-gramming" and sharing of content from our class, please go ahead and give yourself a photo credit at the end.
Here’s an example of a well-written caption:
Democratic presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., delivers his policy on Iraq speech, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2007, in Clinton, Iowa. Obama called for the immediate withdrawal of all U.S. combat brigades from Iraq, with the pullout being completed by the end of next year. (Photo by Charlie Neibergall).
or
Sophomore biology major Jane Doe takes shelter under a covered walkway at Woodland Glen II as high winds hit the University of Kentucky campus on Friday, Dec. 28, 2018, in Lexington, Ky. The storm caused minor flooding and power outages across campus. (Photo by Janet Doe)