Give your photos a moody, dystopian vibe with this Lightroom preset. These Lightroom presets work best with night cityscape photographs of vibrant metropolises like Hong Kong and Tokyo. The look is reminiscent of Wong Kar-Wai films, but it’s been made more subtle to align with today’s color grading trends.

Cinematic Look with Green Undertones

Cyberpunk neon looks aren’t the only way to edit night city photos. This preset was made to create a futuristic city look that also looks natural. The mood it brings to your photos is kind of like the haunting cities in Wong Kar-Wai’s movies. It adds a sense of film-like mystery to your photos, making every street and alleyway tell a story.

Dystopian Green Color Grading

Shadows have an emerald green that contrast well with the vibrant reds and oranges. The highlights are desaturated to reduce color cast on building walls, except in the reds to ensure that lights stay vibrant. 

Emphasizing the Green Tint

These presets work best with night cityscapes with bright red/orange lights, such as car tail lights, stop lights, warning beacons, crosswalk signs, etc. In the style of a dystopian look, the lights provide color contrast over gray concrete buildings in these Lightroom presets. You can emphasize the green tint by adjusting the white balance settings – increase the temperature and lower the tint.

You can also transform the greens into blue by doing the opposite – lower the temperature and increase the tint.

Lightroom Preset Compatibility

This Dystopian Preset works with the latest version of Lightroom CC, Lightroom Classic CC, and Photoshop CC/Adobe Camera Raw. After downloading, import the entire zip file into Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw. Unfortunately, the older versions of Adobe Lightroom, like LR 4/5/6 or CC 2017 or earlier, are not compatible with this preset.