Is this a White Balance issue/contrast & brightness issu

[cnc911]

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=5421556&outx=800&oq=0
Before

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=5421554&outx=800&oq=0

After

http://images.fotopic.net/?id=5421555&outx=800&oq=0
Before (No after for this one)

I took these pics to a lab to get printed out. I noticed that the faces were a bit ashy looking. I don't know if it is a white balance issue or not. But in either case. In Photoshop elements for the 2nd pict. I raised the brightness and lowered the contrast. Was this right. Does it still look washed out. Are they any other ways to correct this problem.

[DAMphyne]

Looks a lot better to me. Sometimes when the cameras look for that 18% gray, they seem to find it where ever they look.
Because the shirt, the background and the skin in this image were all dark, I think that the auto-exposure may have tried to compensate to lighten the picture.
Good job fixing it.
Dave

[rick barclay]

Retouched one is much better, IMO.

[maderito]

To answer your question about white balance vs. contrast/brightness:

Both pictures have a blue cast (which makes images look cool). If corrected, the images will look warmer (skin tones more red/yellow, grays and whites more neutral instead of bluish) and may have more apparent contrast. The skin tones usually look better. Correcting color casts is a white balance issue.

In addition, the first picture benefits from contrast enhancement - which you performed. Presumably, you did the same on the second.

To accurately correct color casts, you have to learn how to use the eye droppers in "levels" or "curves" (assuming you have them in your version of Photoshop) along with the color sampler tool. For approximate work, you can also use Adjustments>Color Balance. It takes practice. :)

[cnc911]

Thanks everyone for the tips. I know practice makes perfect. There is just so much to learn with Photoshop.