Choose either RAW or JPEG. Then set up the DSLR shooting parameters and White Balance that relate to the light condition under which you are shooting. Set the ISO. Set the Dital SLR to the desired program mode and select your aperture of shutter speed. Use a low shutter speed such as f/4 for high action scenes and f/22 for landscapes, for example. Then take the photo and check the photograph on the LCD screen, checking the histogram to evaluate the exposure. If necessay adjust your parameters(shutter speed, aperture, ISO) and shoot again and check again on the LCD screen to see if it is satisfactory. Repeat until you have got the shot that you want.
A typical workflow for shooting wildlife could be like the following. Set the program mode to Aperture Priority(AV or Av) and select an aperture of f/5.6 which will give you a high shutter speed and a decent background isolation. Set the exposure compensation to Minus two-thirds if you subscribe the underexposing theory or plus two-thirds if you believe the histogram to the right theorists. Set the White Balance(WB) to Auto for RAW files and SHADE if you are using JPEG files. Set the ISO to 200 so that your speed is high enough without generating too much signal-to-noise ratio noise in the digital photograph. Set the Autofocus to Continuous Tracking Servo so that it is ready to go at a moment's notice. Make sure that you have enough room on your storage card. If you have a lens range switch, set the range that you are working at so that the lens will have a shorter distance to move to achieve focus.
Avoid over use of the LCD screen, especially if you are out in the bush, to preserve battery life and to keep the sensors cooler. Heat in or near the sensors increases the possibility of noise in the digital photograph. Only review images on the LCD screen when necessary. The LCD histogram is the best way to judge your exposure. Do not rely on the picture in the LCD screen for testing exposure, it is too small to judge correctly.
Some browsers for RAW image workflow are BreezeBrowser, CaptureOne DSLR, Bibble, Aperture for the mac, LightRoom, and ACDSee. You can also use a combination of these software programs for your RAW image workflow. In the Color Matrix section you could use settings like sRGB High Chroma. You can also change the WB to SHADE so that you get photos that are punchier with strong colors. You can also change the exposure perhaps brightening by a fraction of a stop. After the RAW processing you could convert the RAW file to a 16-bit TIFF file to get maximum quality.
Any further post-processing can be done in either Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. Clean up any dirty marks or dust with the Clone tool or the Healing brush in PHotoshop. The Healing brush is particulary good for cleaning up any dust marks. Just select a brush size bigger than the dust spot and click on it and hey presto, by magic , it is all fixed up. Make sure that your monitor is calibrated correctly so that your colours are true. Software such as Adobe Gamma for the PC and Apple Calibrate for the Mac will adjust your monitor to the correct color calibration.