You could always do the follows:
1. Connect the camera to the computer, and let iPhoto start downloading the photos, be it the "Selected" ones or "All" (whichever way you want), OR just ignore iPhoto and do the following:
a. Launch PSE6. As PSE6 shows on the screen, you will notice a small window giving you the options to download photos from a scanner, and from a camera as well. Select "Download From Camera." PSE6 will automatically launch "Bridge," which in turn will allow you to download the photos you select, or to download all. Download all the photos, but as it asks you for a location you want the photos downloaded to, choose "Desktop." Bridge will create a folder with a name or date. I usually choose a "by date" option, and Bridge downloads the photo to a dated folder on the Desktop. Bridge is much faster, and will finish downloading the photos ahead of iPhoto every time.
2. Quit Bridge, quit iPhoto, and switch to PSE6. Select whichever photo you want from the folder on the Desktop, and open it with PSE6. If it's a RAW image, you will notice that PSE6 will give you several options not available when using iPhoto to edit your photos. Some of these options are as follows: Clarity, Exposure, Fill light, Temperature, and a few more that allow you to control how the image is developed. Lastly, open the image.
3. This image that you just opened is not the original RAW, but a “developed” image from a negative where the RAW is the negative. PSE6 won't save another image over the original RAW photo, unless you force it to do so. More than likely the new image will be in 16-bit mode. You can work on this image as it is, but not all function within PSE6 will be available for you to choose from. At this point you have a few options, but I will keep it simple:
a. You can just save this image as "Save As," and to TIFF format, but don't close the image on display. The file will be save to the same folder, but with ".tif" at the end of the name. This is an uncompressed TIFF original image that you want to save for future use.
b. You can launch iPhoto, and "Import" the TIFF photo into iPhoto, and then edit it further within iPhoto and save it as you wish.
c. Or you can go back to the image on display, and decide if you want all the functions of PSE6. If that's the case, change the image's mode from 16-bit, to 8-bit, and do all the work you want to do to it, and save to JPEG. This new image will be saved to the same folder on the Desktop, but in JPEG format. Again, this is a copy of the TIFF image, but now somewhat compressed, and in JPEG format. Now you can import the processed image into iPhoto if you want.
What I usually do after I have enough PP photos in the folders on the Desktop is to burn DVDs with all the photos for safekeeping, and also to some external hard drives that I only energize or “turn on” whenever I want to save the same photos.
If you download the photos with iPhoto, it will save the original RAW images in the “Originals” folders. When you edit an original photo and then save it, it should not save the PP photo over the original. However, to be on the safe side, always “Save As”. If you have edited the photo within an “Event” folder and just “Save,” the photo will be save to B&W or whatever you have done to it, and in the same folder.
Once the photos are saved to DVD's, and hard drives, including the duplicates, etc., then you can trash the photos in the folder on the Desktop, or you can choose to keep them there. However, it will take a tremendous chunk of hard drive space. Those RAW and TIFF images are usually uncompressed.