A Note on Captions...

Working for a newspaper, captions are absolutely essential for a photographer--knowing exactly what you just photographed is almost as important as actually getting the pictures. Captions, though, take a significant amount of effort.

I sometimes record my photo number and exactly what happened, who made the play, etc., but more often than not I either grab a picture of the team roster (above) and then look at the pix before and after the shot I want, as well as any shots of the scoreboard I've taken, and any news reports/box scores, to piece together what's happening in a picture. It usually turns out pretty accurate.

A good memory helps. This pic is nothing special, but it was a touchdown. Good thing I remembered, or it may have been in the trash:

Later in the game, 'Stoga pulled out on top with a game winning touchdown. Here's the reaction to the play. Being able to ID the receiver and the player greeting #8 is critical:

But, what if I didn't remember? And it's happened many a time before. Check out the latest football game photos online at stoganews.com to see some fairly intense captioning, aided by news reports the day after. That's the luxury of a monthly.

Getting names, numbers, scenarios is important. It's not all about blind shooting.