In Adobe Camera Raw

The way to edit raw images from digital cameras. Best explained by demonstration in class, this link has an excellent explanation to refer to later: http://www.photoshopessentials.com/photo-editing/camera-raw-vs-photoshop/

New Interface:

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Older Interface

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Suggested order of edits in CAM RAW:

1. Cam calibration
2. Crop and Straighten
3. Spot Removal
4. WB & color cast corrections
5. Basics panel et al
1. adjustment brush
2. radial filter
3. graduated filter
6. Noise
7. Sharpen
8. other panels
9. presets
10. snapshots
11. preferences

In PS with destructive adjustments

The Image Menu > Adjustments choice has all the adjustments you need but...the problem is that the changes are all "baked into" the file. You can undo but you can't tweak them later. Only use for quick and dirty, simple edits.

In PS with non-destructive Adjustment Layers

All the adjustments you need plus they are all applied via an "Adjustment layer" which allows you to go back and tweak them to your heart's content. And you can use Layer Masks to apply the effects to specific regions of the image.