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Write captions that add information

A caption should tell the reader something the picture cannot. A describe-then-delete method, with before and after examples.

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An open cabinet with woodworking tools arranged inside.

In this guide

  1. Describe, then delete
  2. Add place and time
  3. Add the one thing that matters
  4. Read it aloud

You will need

  • Three photographs you plan to share
  • The field notes you wrote when you made them

Most captions repeat the picture: “a cabinet of tools”. The reader can already see that. A useful caption names what they cannot see.

Describe, then delete

Write a plain description of the photograph. Then delete every word the picture already makes obvious. What remains is often nothing, and that is the point: now you know what needs adding.

Add place and time

The photograph at the top of this guide shows an open cabinet of woodworking tools. It does not show whose cabinet it is, where it stands or when it was photographed. Those are exactly the facts a caption should add, and your field notes should already hold them.

Add the one thing that matters

What would a reader miss? Perhaps that every tool had just been sharpened, or that one space in the cabinet is always empty. One clause is enough.

A hand holds an old axe with a rusty head and a wooden handle above a cracked, weathered concrete floor.
Before: “Axe.” After: “Old axe, head rusty but still tight on the handle, held up over the yard before splitting wood.” Only write the second part if your notes confirm it.

Read it aloud

If the caption sounds like a label on a museum drawer, it is probably working. If it sounds like a greeting card, cut it back. Never add a fact you did not record.