Sorry, I didn't mean to cause confusion. I was saying the image looked too dark to me. It was after all bright sun under a clear blue sky.
The Levels tool is a very important basic tool. Levels is the classic way to adjust image brightness and contrast and tones. Same tool is in Photoshop, and all better photo editors.
Just type CTRL L on the keyboard on the image open in Elements. That brings up the Levels dialog to adjust that image.
If you use Adobe Raw instead, then the Exposure slider is the same thing as the white point in Levels. You'd use that instead. Better done there in Raw than later in Elements. You can hold the ALT key there too, to see WHAT you are clipping with greater exposure.
Here is a quicky explanation of the tool
Photoshop Elements Help | Adjusting shadows and light (down the page about Levels)
Sometimes the non-Adobe explanations are the best ones
http://www.google.com/search?q=elements+levels
If your monitor were calibrated, you would know it (you would have bought the kit and would have done it yourself). If you notice lots of other web photos you see on your monitor are too bright, and if you notice the images you adjust, and then have printed, look too dark on the print, then calibration is the main suspect. It is not a huge difference, but a noticeable one.
Short of that, just backing off a little bit on the LCD monitor brightness can have a very good effect too.
You buy a calibration software kit (maybe $100 class) which includes a light sensor on a USB cable. You hang that sensor over your monitor screen as directed, and run the software. Takes a few minutes while the software outputs various colors to the monitor, which the sensor reads and measures the actual screen output, and sends back the results on the USB cable. Then the software determines how wrong it was, and makes corrections to the system video driver, to make it be right (colors and brightness). You repeat this calibration every few months.
I use an old Datacolor Spyder 2 calibration kit. I think they are up to version 4 now, like this:
Amazon.com : Datacolor Spyder4Express S4X100 Display Calibration Device : Photographic Light Meter Accessories : Camera & Photo if you have ONE monitor,
or this if you have multiple monitors you want to use it on:
Amazon.com : Datacolor Spyder4Pro S4P100 Colorimeter for Display Calibration : Photographic Light Meters : Camera & Photo
These two are the same thing except the usage licensing for multiple monitors.
And there are a few other brands, similar kits. I imagine they all do what they say. You can find online reviews, where they go on and on.
They also have more elaborate/expensive kits which involves calibrating the printer driver too. I don't need that myself (much more trouble than its worth), because other than quickies, I have stuff printed. The monitor calibration means if I adjust the images correctly as seen on the monitor, then the send out printing will come out good, as expected (assuming we use sRGB). I am very happy with the lower priced basic kit, only for the monitor(s).
Most, if not all LCD monitors come adjusted too bright for photos. Which means we see them wrong, and likely adjust them too dark. So the purpose of calibrating the monitor is to make your photo adjustments conform to the rest of the world. So your prints will come out looking about like what you saw on your monitor.
FWIW, I also set the cameras LCD brightness to -1, to better match my calibrated monitor.
Hope that helps.