I realize know that I had the two examples confused. it is the one without Auto Adjust that I preferred.
I think my confusion stemmed in part from the fact that the pix were so large on the screen and from my overly quick look at your phrase "With Out" (not an excuse - just an explanation.)
That's interesting as an observation, Doug.
It brings up several important points. First to evaluate a picture on its own, one really needs to be able to see it in one glance so "get" the shapes, gestures and overall composition. Sometimes, our dear friend Charlotte has pictures that need to be scrolled to be seen completely. So the solution, as a start is a small enough version.
Next, to compare things, side by side viewing is necessary so the eyes can switch instantly and sense what feels different and then discover why. Looking at Will's pictures here, I was stunned right now to realize that the untreated first image was
so much better. Just look at her face. She's bright, vibrant and alive. The auto-improved iPhoto picture that follows appears, by comparison, dull.
So the necessary setup is to have, (detail of interest), in the pictures side be side. In photoshop, we do it by layers. I constantly switch of the layer to see the original and then back again to my new version. We can't do that here, so side by side cutouts are needed to really appreciate even important difference such as in these pictures of a pretty girl.
It might be that the auto enhance is confused by anything other than pink caucasian skin!
Still, I would not trust my work to it!
Asher