With RAW format (Canon uses extension of CRW) you can alter the picture drastically when you bring it in Photoshop Elements. The main two settings I adjust on these are exposure and White Balance. I start with White Balance and choose how surrounding was. For instance you can choose fluorescent, tungsten, cloudy, etc and it will do a great color adjustment for these. Secondly I use exposure and this is just like changing exposure on camera so entire picture changes and is not like using brightness, You can get most of the brightness you need from this. I have seen items in pictures using this that were shot in low light that I did not see with naked eye. When you save the file it will be saved as JPG. Your original is still there you can go back and play with, however it does remember some settings, but clicking Auto buttons goes back to original.

For JPG files you will have fewer abilities and they are different. I like to do three items and pictures appear very realistic. If the picture was shot outdoors, usually only the Shadow option is all I do.

To adjust colorization to more realistic, these settings seem to work well for my Canon Rebel camera, play with what does best for you.
1. Go to Enhance, Adjust Color, Remove Color Cast
2. Now click on a spot that should be black or white. If neither in picture then click the pointer (actually is an eyedropper at this point). You will see colors change. If picture looks wrong try another spot. Sometimes it is hard getting exact point, with pointer on it. You should now have a very realistic picture, except maybe a little dark. Colors should all look ok.
3, Click OK

The next steps remove shadows or darkness while not brightening everything.
1. Go to Enhance, Adjust Lighting, Shadows/Highlights
2. Move Lighten Shadows to 20
3. Click OK

If picture seems still seems dark
1. Go to Enhance, Adjust Lighting, Brightness/Contrast and adjust the brightness.
2. If you adjust a lot then try adjusting Contrast about half as much also to get realism back.
3. Chick OK

Lastly use the Image, Resize, Image Size to change pictures to new sizes. This can be done in pixels/points (good if you are doing for web display) or in inches (good for doing prints). Make sure you do size to size of print you want when sending the picture to a photo lab to be printed (including at corner drugstore) or the picture you get back may have been cropped different than you want. Lastly save the new edited picture as a different name than the original. I like to add the word edited on the end of the name before the .jpg so I will know which pictures are edited and which are not. JPG files are compressed and uncompressed when you edit them and compressed again when saved. If you edit an edited one you will find details disappear as you keep doing the edits. It is similar to making a copy from a copy instead of from the original.

You can do lots more in editing your pictures but this is just a basic start.

Have fun shooting and editing your pictures,

The winners in the webpage contest will receive their patches at the October meeting. Congratulations to everyone. I will use for the 2007 contest every club and division webpage that has a link on the district web page on July 1, 2007. Make sure your club/division is listed with the correct link to your webpage. If it is missing or wrong link or changes during year, e-mail me at dwight@dwightwatt.com

The winners for 2006 were:
Gold - Macon
Silver - Cornelia
Blue - Duluth
Orange - Historic Roswell
White - Carrollton
Division - 23