Seeking Educational Feedback (for bigenner)

[u/Optimal_Mouse_2524]

Just a moment ago, I competed in DSPC, which is a contest for journalism, and my category is photojournalism. I represented my school and was all alone, while other schools had 4-6 photographers. The issue is that while I know how to capture a story/photo, I just realized I don't even know how to write a caption. Plus, I just learned that you have to put a caption for each photo, so what I did was search online on how to write a caption before the event even started. Now, because I only received the news that I have to put a caption, I only had 1 practice on how to caption and had a short review about how to write a caption. And I'll be showing you guys my work, and pls judge me based on your experiences and expertise Dcpc

[u/Impressive_Delay_452]

Who, what, where, when...for every photo you submit for a story

[u/mywaphel]

So the biggest thing that stands out to me with those captions is that you're making too many assumptions. Only include the facts in your caption. For example, your second caption you write "a parent, around 60's". Just don't include her age. "A woman carries her daughter's school bags as they leave school on sept. 2" or the final caption talks abiut how the students are exhausted and hungry, unless they directly tol you that skip it. "Students walk to the school canteen after practicing their photojournalism skills on sept. 2"  if they did tell you they were hungry and exhausted you can include that in a second sentence "the students said they were exhausted and hungry due to the extreme heat." Same with the first caption. Skip the parts about him being happy and why. Just describe what's happening. "A young student plays a game with his friends in the school courtyard (or wherever) on sept. 2"

Others have mentioned it but your first sentence should always tell us who it is (the students) what theyre doing (walk to the canteen) where they're doing it (school), and when it happened (sept. 2). Your second sentence is why. (They were exhausted and hungry from the heat.)  It's ok to not have the why, always better to not include info you don't have than to make something up, but include it if you can. Try to seek it out. Remember the difference between photography and photojournalism is journalism. You have to do more than just take the photo, you have to get the story as well. Get those students names and ages, get a quote from them about their hunger. Ask the kid what game he's playing. Ask the mom how she feels about carrying her daughters things for her, you get the idea.

Hope that helps.

[u/luvsxbbb]

Hi! Congratulations and I wish you the best in DSPC!

I'll share some of my tips when I write my captions that i learned these during my trainings / seminars

I usually start my captions with a cutline, / action lead-in, which is like the title of your caption to add emphasis to the main caption

For example:

WORLD BOUND: Alex Eala, 21, wins a Decisive Victory Against Home Bet Mary Stoiana in US Open First Rounds at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on September 1, 2026.

Then, id follow the format when writing the first sentence;

(Cutline), [Name], [Age if applicable], [Verb], [Main Action], at [Place], on [Date]

In the example:

WORLD BOUND (Cutline), Alex Eala (Name), 21 (Age), Wins (Verb) Against Home Bet Mary Stoiana in US Open First Rounds (Main Action) at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City (Place) on September 1, 2026 (Date).

FIRST SENTENCE SHOULD CONTAIN the Cutline, 5Ws and H (Who, What, Why, When, Where and How), and what is generally happening in the photo

The first sentence is also written in PRESENT TENSE.

For the second sentence, id usually put background information, a direct quote from the subject, or a story. This is where interviewing comes in.

After I take a photo of my subject, I'd interview them to gather information (5Ws and H as well as background Information)

The second sentence should be written in PAST TENSE.

For Example:

DIVISION BOUND: Arnis Player [NAME], 15, Wins a Decisive Victory Against [NAME] in the 44-48kg Girls Category during the Division City Meet Selection at [PLACE] on September 1, 2026. [NAME] secured a 5-2 lead against [NAME] to qualify for the selection.

A caption shouldn't just describe the photo, it should also add context to the story. In writing a caption, always fact check, check your grammar, and advice bias and most importantly: dont state the obvious.

Hope this helps!

[u/Optimal_Mouse_2524 → u/luvsxbbb]

Big help!

[u/MC_Gullivan]

You should pay attention to captions in big publications and practice writing captions every day using what you've learned.