Brendan, I liked your response or at least I think it addresses what I was trying to come to grips with yesterday. A Rosity Judge could come along and say, "No, deci6el, you got it so wrong. We just meant that EVERY picture tells a story so cough up what you'd like to do and we'll interpret it for you and if it makes the magazine look good we'll put it on the cover." I don't think they meant that. There are some great images submitted that would make attractive magazine covers. Attractive as in pulling someone closer to the newsstand to get a better look at the magazine. But I don't think they tell a story. Yes, I could make a story out of it, you could, and on but that doesn't make Them a good storyteller. It might make them good "emotion synthesizers" . I think there is value in evoking mood but one isn't neccesarily the other. A story needs a beginning, middle and end. What's happening here? What happened before and as Claymor said way back up top of this thread, "What will happen next?" And to give that kind of information you have to use the tools that Brendan was talking about, imo. And since this thread sort of developed into an informal survey of our experiences with the educational system, I'll add: I had few good teachers but the ones that were Great changed my life forever but only because I was willing to get it.