No Photo Was Ever Harmed by the Addition of A Caption

Never think that a photo is self-evident – most often they are not. What if I didn't add a caption to this photo? Would you understand what's going on?

Captions can

• Explain what is going on in the photo
• Identify people whenever possible (especially if their faces are clearly visible)
• Describe the larger context

Avoid

• Insulting your reader by writing ridiculously simple captions, like "Man in a park with a deer."  
• Using gratuitous or superfluous photos or illustrations
• Distorting photos when scaling (hold down that Shift key!)

Use photos and captions to 

• Illustrate the story
• Strengthen your layout
• Give your readers a sense of the big picture

(OK, smartypants, if you know so much, add the caption in the comments below …)

Print Two-Sided in JH212