John_S_in_Penna Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 Everyone wants to do well--newsletter editors too!The newsletter awards program gives points for simplyhaving photo captions, but here are a few thoughts on how they can be improved.Often, volunteer editors have vague or generic captions."Impressive brass car" is generic, and was probably writtenbecause the photographer didn't get information off thecar's windshield card at the show. "Tom Smith's 1909 Simplex"is better and will educate the readers a bit.Much more interesting is, "Tom Smith found this 1909 Simplexin an old Long Island carriage house in 1959, and had it totally restored in the 1960's. It has been on six Glidden Tours."That last example requires talking to the owner, but is far moreinteresting to the reader. And talking to the owner mayopen up many more possibilities--interesting contacts andmaybe even a story! That last example also documents historyfar better for the future.When you read the New York Times or The Wall Street Journal,they never have vague captions such as "Hillary Clinton."Captions should inform--and such professionalism should makeyour hard work better appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
West Peterson Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 JohnYou hit upon one of my pet peeves as I read through a number of publications. Many editors fall back on, "A picture is worth a thousand words." How untrue that statement is in most cases. A picture is almost worthless without a good caption. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John_S_in_Penna Posted March 24, 2015 Author Share Posted March 24, 2015 When the AACA updates its Publications Manual,maybe recommendations such as these could beincluded to boost newsletters' professionalism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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