Thank you Ana...However I do believe it is a portrait. Much like a wedding portrait of a man and woman exchanging wedding vows is a portrait.

Not that this is what this was. It was a reunion photo between a woman and her husband after he finished basic training.

The story behind this was that when we went to our son's graduation from basic training last December, we met a lovely young woman who was there to surprise her husband for his graduation. The man was in the same platoon as my son.

We met the young woman during the demonstration part of the weekend's graduation events, before we got to see our soldiers after the more than 3 month absence.

She had come from Minnesota to Oklahoma by bus to surprise her husband. He didn't think she was coming because she had told him that not only could she not afford the trip, but she couldn't get away from work.

I offered to take a photo of the moment when they re-united which this is the result. When I took it I considered it a portrait. Much the same as the wedding portrait of me and my husband exchanging vows that hangs in our room.

This was actually very difficult to get since there were 200 men and their families all over in a very tight covered courtyard on a very cold, windy, bright day. People were crowded around the doors you see in the photo anxiously waiting for their soldiers to come through the door on the left.

The courtyard was covered so we were not in the sun, but under some sort of horrible, dark, flourescent lighting in which I had to rely on my little built-in, on-camera flash.

All in all from the outset this was intended to be a portrait. I didn't post it sooner, since I was not happy with the quality of the photo, but I had always thought of it as dramatic and that's why I decided to submit it.

Flatline...since you think a portrait should only have one subject. So then what do I call the picture on my wall that is a "family Portrait" of the 5 of us? Or the one of my husband and I exchanging vows on our wedding day? Just curious since your definition seems so narrow. (I don't really know how to do photoshop, so "cloning" is not something I know how to do.)

CaptureThis, yeah, I'm using a pretty narrow definition. A "portrait" is a word deriving from paintings of individuals from time before photography. It typically has a singular subject, with supporting elements. Those elements could be other people, but they would be rendered smaller, to give context to the subject. In photography a portrait is by some (not me) considered to be just head and shoulders, almost like an actor's head shot or a passport picture. That's a little too narrow.

A "Family Portrait" is in fact a group shot, also known by painters as an assembly.

Wedding photographers offer "wedding portraits" but that is in fact an image of two people, equally weighted. It is now known as a "portrait" because it is usually a staged shot.

"Cloning" is one way of removing something unwanted in an image, and it's really easy to do. Check out Photoshop Elements, a basic version that has 99% of the features of the big application, and is really easy (and fun!) to use. Often you can take a shot and fine-tune it closer to perfection. Just think of the joy of removing unwanted objects in an image. Think of street signs, odd background handles, or an unpopular brother-in-law that has finally been dispatched :-)

Flatline...I appreciate that.

I have a very old version of Photoshop 6, and I did figure out how to use the clone stamp tool :). It's very cool. I went back into the photo and did as you said and I do see a big difference. I have a few shots that I "played" with after that. I need a lot more practice with it though.

I am trying to get ahold of some books that were recommended to me but since they are for the old ps 6 I have to track them down as used. I have 2 Scott Kelby books coming so that should help me a lot.

As of right now, Photoshop is still very frustrated for me so there are only a few things that I do and I probably don't even do them "right".

I may be able to get my hands on a reduced cost CS2, through student discount, so maybe I'll get that. Even with the discount, it's still a little pricey for me right now. ;P

Look at Photoshop Elements. Full retail is $89, student discounts or older versions are much cheaper than that. Heck, it comes free with a number of cameras nowadays. Maybe a friend can gift you an unused license. The Kirby books are very good, and the tips he gives are usually the same for other versions. The button or menu may be elsewhere, but it's all the same functionality.

Another suggestion for an image editing program is the GIMP. It doesn't have the expansive power of CS2 but it's free and is still quite a comprehensive and powerfull program. Available for Windows, Apple and Linux.

http://www.gimp.org/

Wow...Thanks for all the very useful advice. I really do appreciate it and I will look into it.

Takaaki,

Cool ! Something that's frustrated me a little having to learn a new interface again, seems there's only so much the brain can hold.

Have to give this one a go.