how do i clone over this area without making it too obvious?

[shijun]

hey everyone! this was a picture i took in nepal during a camp. as you can see there's a group of us at the left hand side. i've seen here: Some reflection - Looking back on a few captures that this person actually cloned the clouds over the banister and it actaully looks convincing to me.

may i know how this can be done so that i can perhaps replace those ppl there with the bridge? and also, any suggestions on how i can further improve on this photo through some editing? im thinking of maybe blurring the background a lil to have like a shallower depth of field? im really a stranger to post production, so any help would be greatly appreciated (:

(im more familiar with photoshop, though i wouldn't mind trying out GIMP either)

thanks in advance!

[digirebelva]

You could always crop the picture to remove the bridge & people entirely which would also serve to move your subject from center. Use the curve tool and increase the contrast a bit as well

[digirebelva]

this is what I came up with, cropped out most of the bridge then used the clone tool to remove the rest, adjusted the level and contrast, bumped the red coat up a bit in saturation, sharpened their faces a bit