Example of a properly exposed photograph:
1

After combining the same photograph taken 7 different times in different exposures (using hdrsoft photomatix and detial enhancer):
2

Then blurring the background to make it look like it was taken in a slightly lower aperture and darkening the highlights in the background a bit (copying layer, extacting background, then applying a gaussian blur to the background).
Mouse over to compare to original:
3