Before I sold my DSLR (I miss you!) I used Lightroom for touch ups. The volume of photographs I would have were too many to open in Photoshop Individually. I needed something that would allow me to sort through and edit more quickly, Lightroom. I believe Sony has a similar program that is well liked. I have not used it however. From time to time I would use Photoshop to do some more specific photo editing. A used Photoshop primarily for graphics when I worked at a sign business.
Many years ago I did have a copy of Elements. It's been years so it must have been a much older version. Later that year I got a copy of Photoshop. I was able compare the two side by side and I found that Photoshop was all around a much better program and I have never used Elements since. Of course, I'm sure Elements has grown up in those years so who knows. I'm rocking Photoshop CS6 though and I don't have any intention of ever trying Elements again.