Meanings of Images

The reading from pages 26-46, in Practices of Looking, generally talked about how the meaning of images are interpreted through conventions. Meaning that meanings of images and symbols have to be taught and learned in order for a person to incorporate some type of meaning. This could defiantly correspond to the knowledge we have on big corporate logos and brands, such as the yellow M for McDonald's, and the Apple for apple products such as macs and iPods. The same goes for signs such as road signs because road signs are universally the same in image therefore if one was to travel to Europe from America. The stop sign will be red and in octagon shape even though the words might be different in language. 
The reading then goes on to explain about icons, symbols, and indexes. Admittedly, I have and still have confusion about the differences between these three contents of signs, even if I have learned the difference from a sociology class last spring, but to try to make it seem more sense to me, I try to use the example of a fast food chain restaurant to help me out.  For example Burger King, when you drive down a road you see a burger sign, the index of the sign is its presence and the icon is that it is a burger therefore you can get something to eat there, the sign is also conventional because, as an American, you were probably taught the meaning that the burger king sign means that burger king is close so you can go get yourself a burger which makes it symbolic because it establishes a meaning to you.
Besides fast food chains, iconic images, as from the reading, can also have a great symbolic meaning. And an example of this that I can think of is the Vietnam war photo Napalm Girl. It shows a little girl naked because a napalm bomb was accidentally dropped on a town of civilians and it shows her and other kids running but she had to take off her clothes to stop the burning sensation. The image then became an icon as a peace message because it shows that innocents were being harmed.