Dee Dee,
we're all picky and images with defects and artifacts are not sellable either by us or by you. The key is to be able to bring the image up without artifacts which is why I was trying to understand your processing. My only additional comment is that the highlight/shadow tool in PS can only be used very judiciously or it will, in fact, add artifacts to the shadow area.

I have two more words for you:
1. Plug-ins. Pictographics has several that do a much better job than PS in terms of both color balance, dynamic range and highlight/shadow control. You might want to visit their site: www.pictocolor.com/.

2. Lightroom. This is a much better product for the volume of images that you process than PS and it has much more sophisticated processing tools as well. It was made for high-volume shooters like you. You might want to consider investing in it.

Good luck.

Jim