How to Write a Photo Caption

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A very long post on a very simple subject.

 

Every photographer thinks they know how to write a photo caption. Yet many photographers either don’t caption their pictures or they do it very poorly.

Two days ago, I edited 170 editorial photos from a couple dozen photographers to prepare the images for a slideshow. The slideshow will display each picture’s caption.

Many of the captions had spelling and grammar errors, broken or incoherent sentences, factual errors, no names, no locations and/or no dates. All of these captions were written by professional photographers.

 

Retired Finnish ice hockey player Teemu Selanne displays his membership ring after being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Canada, 10 November 2017. Established in 1943, the Hockey Hall of Fame recognizes achievements of players, coaches and others involved with the sport of ice hockey.

Photo captions have to provide relevant information using the least number of words. Easy, right?

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Eyeball This

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My left and right eyes. The bright spot in each eye shows that I’m busy thinking :–) Look how many veins and arteries are in each eye.

A public service announcement for photographers: Get your eyes checked every few years.

We take our eyes for granted but they need to be properly maintained.
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Credit Where Credit’s Due

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Four weeks ago, Google made a small but potentially good change to Google Images.

When someone searches images on Google, there is now a tiny, barely noticeable, new link below the larger version of some images that reads, “Image credits”:

The tiny link to show the image credits appears only if the appropriate IPTC data is embedded in the image.

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A Losing Opportunity

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A well-known stock photo company is currently hiring for many positions including human resources, sales and marketing, numerous tech positions, product directors, business development, photo editors and photographers.

All of these jobs are salaried and come with “first-rate Apple gear, generous vacation plan, health benefits, solid compensation/bonuses and a company culture that values empowerment, passion, integrity, courage and transparency.”

In fact, the company states that their employees enjoy “Stellar medical, dental, and vision insurance”, “Generous vacations. Game rooms”, “Competitive pay”, “Tuition reimbursement. Holiday parties”, “Fully-stocked beverage fridges. Complimentary breakfast, lunch, and snacks”, and “Subsidized gym memberships and fitness plans.”
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Toronto Film Festival 2018 Review

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My annual, very, very long rant about the recent 2018 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) from a photographer’s point of view. If you’re not somehow involved with TIFF then it might be better to skip this post. I’m just trying to reach a certain audience. The reason is that each year, TIFF sends out a survey asking for journalists’ thoughts about the film festival but there are no questions for photographers. The film festival treats photographers as an afterthought and never bothers asking for their opinions.

 

TL;DR: This year, some things got better, some got worse and a few things sadly haven’t changed. TIFF has no real focus as it tries to be everything to everyone. Middle age is showing as TIFF just reiterates what it did the previous year. Final rant at the end of this post.
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Starting a Photo Business in Canada

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Are you thinking about starting a photo business in Canada and do you speak French? Then do yourself a favour and read En photo et en affaires written by Quebec City photographer Francis Vachon.

This is one of the very few Canadian books about starting and running a photography business. It covers starting a business, getting customers, pricing, licensing, contracts, taxes and copyright.

The book was written in Quebec but most of the information is applicable anywhere in Canada. But keep in mind that Quebec’s privacy laws are different from most other provinces. There might also be some small differences when it comes to contracts as this falls mostly under provincial laws.

 

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