FOCUS OREGON - V1 - I1

Image Titles -
The 13 th Element
You may know about the 12 Elements of a Merit Print but do you know about the
unofficial 13th Element—Titles?
By Lisa Dillon, M.Photog.Cr, CPP, FP-OR
For new competitors, one of
the most difficult parts of
the Competition Game can be
coming up with a title for your
image. It’s a new concept—
clients don’t expect titles.
And what makes a good title
anyway? It’s not one of the 12
elements, so how important is a
title, really? Well, let’s start from
the beginning.
First, your title is the only
chance you have to speak
directly to judges so don’t
waste it! The title is your chance
to direct the judges’ attention
to exactly what you want them
to see. Sometimes the subject
of your image isn’t the obvious
house on the hill—it’s the small
dog in corner that is standing
guard over his charges. How do
you get the judges to see that
first? With a title that directs
them to that spot. Instead of
calling your image “House on
the Hill” consider a title like
“Strong Sentinel” or “Keeping
Watch”.
Lisa Dillon
What makes a good title? A
good title will take the viewer
on a journey or pull them into
a story. Storytelling is one of
the 12 elements and your title
should be a big part of telling
your image’s story. Don’t
waste your one opportunity
to speak to the judges with a
trite, overused title that doesn’t
further your story. A title such
as “Summer Beauty” does not
bring me, as a judge, along
with you into the image. I can
probably see that the subject
is beautiful and tell by the
surroundings that it is summer
time. So what would be a better
title? How about “The Edge of
17” or “Ready to Spread Her
Wings” or “Soaking in the Last
of Summer’s Bounty”
It’s also important to avoid what
I like to call visual titles. That’s
a title that is a play on words
that you have to actually read
to get. Using something like
quotation marks or a homonym
may not be well understood
SPRING 2018 FOCUS OREGON • 15