Dynamics5

The dark part of my raw files look exceptionally dark. Is there a way to correct for that?

Fayle Loc: Seward, Alaska and Rionegro, Colombia

What does the histogram show?

Retired CPO Loc: Travel full time in an RV

I thought the whole reason for shooting RAW is that EVERYTHING can be corrected!!

JD750 Loc: SoCal

I am assuming your monitor is adjusted for correct brightness, you might want to verify that.

Sometimes you can use the shadows slider to lighten underexposed dark areas provided they are not too badly underexposed. You might see noise in the shadows after lightening if so you will want to apply some noise reduction.

For the future try to figure out why, what conditions, caused the frames to be underexposed and compensate accordingly.

cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX

Yes. Process it.

rcarol

It would be nice to see an example.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

You don't say what camera you are using. Modern cameras can capture and record as much as 12 to 14 stops of dynamic range. Most printers and display devices can handle 7 or 8. So ypu c an capture more than ypu van show.

A big part of post processing is mapping captured brightness levels to displayable ones. Ypu are committing to doing that when you use raw files. Pf course, you need to make sure you are not underexposing your images. That's part of what the histogram is for.

MJPerini

First," Looks to Dark" is not a meaningful statement. If they "look to dark on your computer, is the display calibrated? If it is and they "look Dark" look at the histogram to see where all the values fall.

Raw files should look however they need to look so that after processing you get the result YOU want.
The Histogram is the first clue. If it appears dark and there is room on the right side, it is probably under exposed. Use ETTR
If it appears dark but the right side is pegged, the dynamic range of the scene exceeded the dynamic range of the camera. In any case a RAW file is your best chance of recovering the most information. But shooting RAW does not absolve you from using your judgement to get the best file possible.
You have to decide what elements are most important you. SOME clipping may be ok in bright skies.
The whole thing is an interpretive creative process. In practice you should look at a scene and decide how you want to expose it. Some variation from auto exposure via Exposure compensation is often desirable.
Most cameras offer blinkies in the viewfinder to warn of clipping. That is a good place to start.
The most common goal in digital exposure is usually to get the most exposure possible that doesn't result in clipping. (That's ETTR) your RAW file will then offer the most flexibility in interpretation.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

None of the in-camera picture settings will affect the raw files, only the jpegs. Are you using Highlight Weighted or Highlight Protected metering? Have you set your exposure compensation to a negative value and forgotten about it? Are you shooting scenes which are predominantly bright but with small dark areas? Don't forget that your eyes compensate for deep shadows but your camera only records what's there. You can compensate for deep shadows in post processing to bring it closer to what your eyes see.

srg

Could you have inadvertently turned the Exposure Compensation dial?
I did that once and a whole hike's shots came out unusable. Almost black.

Dynamics5

No problem with exposure compensation. The light areas look fine, the dark areas are too dark. Is there a way to color calibrate the camera / lenses?

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

I've done that too but not an entire days shoot.

Dynamics5

Sample photo that shows how dark the shaded areas are.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

This is an example of high dynamic range. Dynamic range is the ratio between the brightest and darkest parts of an image, from pure black to brightest white.

You exposed for the brightest area (and through the window of a bus? ).

Others in the thread have given you excellent advice about how to expose and how to edit raw to get the best a particular image can be. Not all cameras have the same ability to capture details in very bright and very dark simultaneously.

Dynamics5

No, the problem is that I exposed for the darker area yet the shaded area is very dark. Other cameras did not have this problem.

Is there a color calibration of some kind that?