@ Tim
> If it isn't Raw Therapee's fault then why doesn't that image look like it was shot in daylight even if the blue sky looks right?
> Hening, is there a reason your shots of a mid day scene look so dark? What happens when you brighten the image to look as bright as a noon day should?
Here is a new attempt in RT. Black WP 0.1 [--edit: *Raw* WP 0.1, of course!], Auto Levels, then Contrast raised from 25 to 45, Saturation from 0 to 10. Does this look more like daylight? If not, I don't know what to do. I'm afraid the contrast is a bit high already. Could it be that noon daylight in Texas looks different from noon daylight in NE Germany?
It might also be that a cloud was just about moving into the sun. The sky was blue, but there were shifting clouds, as you can see on the green foreground, which lies all in shadow except a little snippet at left.
I share your concept that a landscape image should render the light of the scene. In this particular image however my focus is not on the overall mood, but on the colors of the foliage as a structure or pattern.
WRT to my second image, 346, this is not noon, but 17:21. (That is "real" time, not Daylight Saving Time). And most of the image field lies in the shadow. 1/2 of it is reflection on the water, which darkens the image even further. I'll try to show 2 attempts on this one later.