Sometimes the best creative discoveries come from experimenting with the unexpected. For this series, I wanted to capture Dubai’s Marina in a way that felt surreal, futuristic, and cinematic — like stepping into a cyberpunk movie. Instead of shooting the skyline in its usual sharp blues and golds, I reached for something different: an orange-tinted FLD filter.
Traditionally, the FLD filter is meant to correct the green cast of fluorescent lights. But in this case, it acted like a creative paintbrush, washing the city in deep magentas and neon purples. The results were striking: skyscrapers glowing with otherworldly hues, reflections in the water transforming into electric rivers of light, and the sky itself radiating with a synthetic glow.
Combined with the natural vibrancy of Dubai’s city lights, this effect created the perfect cyberpunk aesthetic — dreamlike, intense, and immersive. The dark vignette around the frame, usually something photographers avoid, instead became a compositional tool: framing the city like a portal into another reality.
To finish the series, I applied my own custom Fujifilm-inspired presets, which I’ve been developing to emulate the character and mood of classic Fuji film stocks. These presets pushed the colors further into that nostalgic-yet-futuristic space, enhancing contrast, depth, and the painterly neon tones of the skyline.
What started as an experiment became a revelation: photography doesn’t always have to show the world as it is. Sometimes, it’s about bending reality to match imagination. And for me, this was about reimagining Dubai as a futuristic neon world, straight out of Blade Runner.
✨ I’ll be adding more of these experimental edits to the blog — exploring how filters, presets, and color grading can completely reshape the mood of a cityscape.
