Im into portrait photography. Im not wanting or needing the cutting edge camera. But one that can take good enough pictures for me to be able to work with in photoshop without too much pixelation or noise. Its memory storage doesn't need to be enormus just enough to hold at least 50 to 100 pictures. Extra points if its easy to transfer pictures to a computer. Thank you! : ]
There's a lot of ways of interpreting 'affordable'. From what you're saying I don't think you're wanting to spend hundreds. I think a good quality compact camera will do the job.
I would recommend the Canon Powershot A590IS. You can get it for around $110 from Amazon (rather more, sadly, if you're in the UK). You will also need a memory card. I'd recommend a 4GB SanDisk Ultra II SDHC card that you will find for about $15/£10 on Amazon. You will also need a set of rechargeable AA size NiMH batteries (get four – two in the camera and two spare) together with a charger.
Easy transfer! Well cameras and computers don't always get on well together so the smart answer is to buy an SDHC card reader (about $15/£10) and just copy your pictures directly from the memory card.
Have a read of this review to see how the Canon A590IS performs against others in broadly that price range. The one chosen as the best is a bit more expensive, but it's a good choice too.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/Q408budgetgroup/