How to Title a News Photograph

A newspaper photo's title must be well written.

Titling a newspaper photo is an important skill if you're sending a picture to your local paper in the hopes that they'll print it, or if you are part of a school's newspaper club and are learning how to lay out a photo page. Most newspapers use a specific style to write headlines and photo captions, and knowing how to appropriately title a photo will increase your chances of having the picture used.

Things You'll Need

• Photograph

Instructions

1. Write a sentence that describes what is going on in the photo. For example, if the photo is of a flooded street following a rain storm, you may write: A massive rain storm resulted in a flood on this street.

2. Remove any unnecessary words: Storm caused flood on street.

3. Alter the sentence to become written in the present tense: Storm causes flood on street.

4. Remove punctuation marks and make sure only proper names and the first word of the title are capitalized: Storm causes flood on street.

5. Write a caption, or cutline, to accompany the titled photo. A cutline lists the names of any people in the photo, typically from left to write, and gives a bit of detail about what is happening: Jane Doe and John Smith watch as a rain storm causes a flood on Maple St.

Tips & Warnings

• Focus on the main subject in the photo when choosing a title.

• Proofread your title and cutline for any spelling errors.

References

• KU: Writing Photo Captions and Cutlines