Photoshop effect on photography photos?

I'm trying to be a photographer and there's lately been a really popular effect on instagram, tumblr, and on flickr. It looks like they photoshop with little contrast, but I tried it with my Nikon D5000 camera and I just can't seem to get the editing right. Photo examples:

This instagrammer's photos: http://instagram.com/...ittlelife_ and http://instagram.com/...toledonate

I hope this makes sense. I tried making the contrast low, but it didn't look like this effect.

I don't see any consistent effect across all the photos. A couple of them appear to just be poorly focused, such as the girl walking away and the sidewalk scene.

But just based on what I've seen, and your question, it seems that all you might really need is to practice more at getting a good, clean shot, and not worry so much about any "effect" you might want. Effects aren't all that effective unless there's a good quality photo as a starting point. If the shot is right at the moment the shutter is released, you might not need, or want an effect.

To start, I suggest you learn everything you can about how to best use whatever camera in your hand. It may be a matter of opening up your user manual, or finding an online community of similar interests.