Newborn/baby pictures help!

[Brenny130]

I took pictures of my month old nephew and was looking for advice on what I did wrong to not get that soft newborn baby skin look. Looking back I think I underexposed them a bit but I was wondering if there was anything else I could have done or what I should be doing in pp. I posted the SOOC picture along with the edited version. Thanks for any help on this!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6048779...7626115662853/

IMG_5160 EXIF
Canon 7D
18-135mm
f/5
1/125
ISO-500
45mm

IMG_5186 EXIF
Canon 7D
18-135mm
f/5.6
1/125
ISO-400
75mm

[royey123]

your photo is marked private

[Brenny130]

sorry about that, they should be public now

[royey123]

I think that with newborns the softest look is best achieved without the blotchy look that comes with being newborn. Hope you don't mind my quick edit.
Perhaps this would have also benefited for more lighting and a smaller ISO.

[edbayani]

you can adjust the image using levels or curves to lighten up the baby. then duplicate the layer and blur the top layer using gaussian blur. really blur it. then adjust the opacity and this gives it the soft look. go to the original layer and with the clone tool, remove some of the blotches using a soft brus and 20% opacity. flatten.
attached a sample.

[Brenny130]

Thank you for the advice and edits-they look great!
I attached a link to what I would love my newborn/baby shots to look like. I love the poses but what I'm wondering about for the sake of this thread is how smooth yet sharp the skin looks. Does this make sense? Obviously getting a great shot SOOC is the initial step but to get this perfected look is that more due to editing?
I forgot to mention for my shot I was just using window light. I do have a speedlite but don't have the needed tools to use it off camera (yet!).
Let me know if I'm not making sense! And thanks again for the help!
http://garlandphotography.com.au/blo...atildaBLOG.jpg