R10 Photos appear dull

[albionshire]

I'm using an R10, the first photo is my photo, the peach-coloured fabric, no matter what I do I just can't produce crisp-looking photos of the fabric, it just looks dull, in order for me to get accurate color, I have to reduce the exposure which makes the photo look dark. The other issue is, I have my brightness on my monitor LCD set to half of the full amount and the other two photos appear well exposed, mine on the other hand looks dull, I have to set my LCD brightness to max to see the detail. There are two other photos which I've attached from the internet and what I'm aiming to achieve they are so crisp and clear, how do I get my photos like so?

F11 / 1/6 and ISO 100 - I'm using the  RF-S 18-45mm lens. I have two 5600K lights each with a lantern style soft box. Any ideas on how I can achieve the same effect as the 2nd and 3rd images?

My photophoto from internetphoto from internet

[justadude · Accepted solution]

An increase in shutter speed will help, maybe also set your timer to a 10 second delay (assuming you are using 2 seconds?).  Also try either reducing the power of one light, or better yet, use a reflector instead of the second light.  Your shadows will look much better.

[albionshire]

Many thanks Gary, I'll give those suggestions a try.

[Waddizzle · Accepted solution]

This is a job for Av mode with ISO 100 dialed in. 

Walking around when the shutter fires could be a factor.  I would doubt it, not unless you have really loose floorboards.