captions

[jim lavrakas]

Ken Kobre's college text book I used in my PJ class says that using either
past OR present tense in captions is acceptable.

At the paper where I work we use present tense to denote immediacy in the
photos, as though the action is happening as the reader looks at the photo.

The other side argues that the photo represents some action portrayed in
the past and it is more appropriate to write about it that way.

I agree that present tense is more dynamic, but your publisher is the boss.

Anyway you end up doing it, it is better to have consistent style.

Goo luck.

jim

Jim Lavrakas
Anchorage Daily News
staff photographer
NPPA Region 11
associate director
907-257-4331

[T. Rob Brown]

But you're describing what the reader is looking at right then.

If you see a guy rowing a boat and say "he rowed a boat" it doesn't sound as
good as "he rows a boat" because the action is ongoing in the photo.

AP style is to write captions in present tense. But I have seen past tense
used in the second sentence to say what happened after or what the results
were from an event or something.

T. Rob Brown
photo editor
The Branson (Mo.) Tri-Lakes Daily News