Brett,
It is gamma =1 file. Opening to see the right brightness you need to assign a
gamma=1 profile like Adobe RGB primaries or sRGB primaries with gamma =1. At
the moment you need to understand a bit more about colour management and
exposure, as well as how raw converters work before you will be successful.
For your convenience, here are 3 gamma=1 profiles.
It is obvious that your L* adjustment gets buried, the file has the white of
approx. 110 on 0..255 scale. Add at least 0.5 stop to the exposure while
shooting the target.
Images looking dark are not necessarily underexposed. Exposure and overall
brightness of raw data have little to do with each other.
Finally, use the right tools for the job.
--
Best regards,
Iliah Borg
LibRaw, LLC
www.libraw.com
www.rawdigger.com
www.fastrawviewer.com
