One of the blogs that I frequent, Pioneer Woman, had some tips on how to make your photos look crisp and clean! See if you can notice the difference from this first one, which is not edited....
to this one, which has some editing...
See how that "gray mask layer" is gone? I never knew there was such a thing!
it's amazing what you can do now-a-days!

(and, yes...I am fully aware that it's almost 2 in the morning, and I'm still up...)