Copper Tide: A Fujifilm X100V Film Recipe (In-Camera JPEG + Lightroom/RAW Guide)

Edward Leung
Aug 11
3 min read

Porto riverside with sailboats on dark water beneath a steel bridge and copper-toned hills, overlaid with Copper Tide text. — Porto's Douro River: Sailboats gliding under a historic bridge, framed by the city's warm copper-toned architecture and contrasting moody sky, captured with Fujifilm's Classic Negative palette on the X100V.

Split before-and-after view of Porto, Portugal rooftops under a hazy sky, labeled BEFORE and AFTER, titled Copper Tide. — View over Porto, Portugal, showcasing the transformative impact of the "Copper Tide" photo effect as it enhances the city's iconic red rooftops and urban landscape.

Split before/after Porto, Portugal river scene: sailboat on the Douro, people on the quay, warm toned cityscape, Copper Tide text — People gather along the Douro River in Porto, Portugal, with the majestic backdrop of historic architecture. A sailboat with vibrant banners glides smoothly on the water, contrasting the transformation in lighting and color from before to after.

Porto, Portugal before-and-after city view with cathedral over terracotta rooftops, labeled BEFORE and AFTER on a split image. — Vibrant transformation of Porto's iconic architecture, highlighting the stunning contrast and detail in the historic Se Cathedral, through the lens of "Copper Tide."

Inspired by a photo encountered while studying cityscape photography technique, a harbor city at dusk under a stormy, muted mauve-grey sky, its warm copper-brick towers and low waterfront buildings glowing against cool glass high-rises, all mirrored in a glassy, near-black stretch of long-exposure water with moored boats at the pier. Copper Tide was built to replicate that warm-architecture-against-cool-storm mood on the Fujifilm X100V, in-camera and in Lightroom.

Fujifilm X100V Film Recipe

Classic Negative is the base here, it carries punchier contrast, deeper blacks, and a slightly gritty urban color response, without tipping into the softer golden-hour warmth of a Classic Chrome recipe.

Film Simulation: Classic Negative, punchier contrast and deeper blacks than Classic Chrome, gritty urban color response.

Dynamic Range: DR400, needed for the full range here, bright stormy sky down to near-black water.

Highlight Tone: -1 · Shadow Tone: 0, a lighter touch that keeps the sky bright and readable and lets the water/shadows go properly dark for contrast, rather than flattening the whole frame.

Color: -2 · Sharpness: 0 · Noise Reduction: -3, desaturated but not heavy-handed, lets the copper brick tones read as the main color note while masonry and window detail stay crisp against the smooth water.

Grain Effect: Strong, Large · Color Chrome Effect: Strong · Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong, leans into the gritty, atmospheric urban-dusk mood and adds depth to the stormy blue-grey sky and water.

White Balance: Auto, R: -1, B: +3 · ISO: Auto (160-6400) · Exposure Comp.: 0 to -2/3, cools the frame slightly (local contrast keeps the brick reading warm); a lighter hand on exposure than a full stop under keeps the frame bright rather than murky.

Lightroom Preset (JPEG / RAW)

Strong contrast with a light hand on exposure, so the frame reads bright and punchy rather than flat or hazy. Profile: Adobe Color.

Exposure -0.10 · Contrast +32 · Highlights -38 · Shadows +8 · Whites -6 · Blacks -12

Temperature -8 · Tint +2 · Vibrance -12 · Saturation -4 · Clarity +22 · Dehaze +10 · Vignette -12

Tone Curve

A moderate S-curve, with most of the contrast now coming from the Contrast slider itself rather than an aggressive curve pull, keeps the wide tonal range of a stormy sky against near-black water without going flat. Highlights: slight decrease. Lights: slight decrease. Darks: slight increase. Shadows: slight increase, without fully lifting off black.

HSL / Color Mixer

Red Hue -5, Saturation +10. Orange Hue -5, Saturation +15, Luminance +5 (the copper/brick architecture). Yellow Hue -10, Saturation -20. Green Hue -15, Saturation -25 (mutes green-tinted glass towers). Aqua Hue +5, Saturation -15. Blue Hue -10, Saturation -10, Luminance -10 (deepens the stormy sky/water). Purple Hue 0, Saturation -10. Magenta Hue 0, Saturation -5.

Split Toning

Highlights Hue 30, Saturation 8 (warm amber into brick and window light). Shadows Hue 210, Saturation 10 (cool blue-grey into water and stormy shadow). Balance -10.

Detail

Sharpening: Amount 50, Radius 1.2, Detail 30, Masking 10. Noise Reduction: Luminance 15, Detail 50, Contrast 0, Color 25, Color Detail 50, Smoothness 50.

Calibration

Red Primary Hue 0, Saturation +5. Green Primary Hue -10, Saturation -5. Blue Primary Hue +5, Saturation +5.

White balance is intentionally left as-shot in the Lightroom preset rather than hardcoded to an absolute Kelvin value — dial in warmth per scene, or use the Temperature/Tint shifts above as a starting point.