I was watching some old Cold War era duck-and-cover videos over the weekend. You know, there’s a flash and everyone falls to the ground and covers their heads, as if that’s going to help. The mushroom cloud and bright orange glow, reminiscent of Oppenheimer, are inescapable, for those in the path. And that made me think: here’s a potential Film Simulation Recipe for my Fujifilm camera!

If you want to replicate the aesthetic of the end of the world, I think it must have an atomic radiance. Thankfully, Fujifilm cameras are highly customizable, and it’s possible to achieve an apocalyptic glow look straight-out-of-camera, no editing needed. If that’s what you are after, this Apocalyptic Glow Film Simulation Recipe is for you!

While many of you won’t appreciate the look of this new Recipe, I think for some of you it might be your new standard, programmed into C1. It has that right level of ominousness and uneasiness to add drama to your images. Turn a boring scene into something incredible just by using the Apocalyptic Glow Film Simulation Recipe! It’s compatible with all Fujifilm X-Trans V cameras, plus all X-Trans IV models with the exception of the X-T3 and X-T30. I’m sure that it can be used on newer GFX cameras, although it’s likely to render slightly different.

Film Simulation: Velvia
Dynamic Range: DR200
Grain Effect: Strong, Small
Color Chrome Effect: Strong
Color Chrome FX Blue: Strong
White Balance: 10000K, +9 Red & -9 Blue
Highlight: -2
Shadow: +1
Color: +4
Sharpness: -1
High ISO NR: -4
Clarity: +4
ISO: Auto, up to ISO 6400
Exposure Compensation: -1/3 to +1/3 (typically)

Example photographs, all camera-made JPEGs captured using this Apocalyptic Glow Film Simulation Recipe on my Fujifilm X-T5:

It’s April 1st, and you probably have already figured out that this is an April Fool’s Day joke. Ha ha. I hope that you had a good laugh, or a mild chuckle at least once. It was actually my teenage daughter’s idea, and I thought it was funny, so I wen’t with it.

A few things real quick. Yes, you can use these settings if you want to—it’s a real Recipe, and will produce this look. It won’t be in the Fuji X Weekly App, because it’s a prank and not intended to be serious. The closest analog aesthetic to it is Redscale, where you load a roll of film into your camera backwards and expose the red emulsion layer first instead of last. I found (through some Internet searches) that Kodak Ektar 100 shot backwards (Redscale) and overexposed by about two stops does produce a somewhat similar aesthetic to this Apocalyptic Glow Film Simulation Recipe. If you like the look of it, feel free to try it. Otherwise, there are over 300 Film Simulation Recipes to choose from, and I’m sure there’s at least one that you’ll love.