BUILDING THE BILLBOARD

Behind the Scenes: Crafting the Burj Azizi Billboard Visual — A Race Against Time (and 22 Lanes of Traffic)

150 meter long billboard in its location, beside the majestic 22-lane Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai

So, there I was on a Thursday afternoon, checking what plays at the cinema over the weekend, when the call dropped: “We need a billboard for Burj Azizi—the world’s second-tallest tower—by Monday. Oh, and it’s 150 meters wide. No pressure.”

Let’s rewind. Burj Azizi isn’t just any project. At 725 meters tall, this Dubai megatower on Sheikh Zayed Road is set to redefine skylines and break records, from its seven-star hotel to the highest observation deck and swimming pool in the world. The billboard? The size of 16 tennis courts. A 50-meter-wide visual centerpiece showcasing a panoramic reflection of Sheikh Zayed Road’s skyline in the Dubai Canal, seamlessly composited with a 3D-rendered Burj Azizi and sharp enough to withstand close scrutiny. Simple, right?

Day 1: Location Scouting & Panic-Induced Precision

The clock started ticking. By Thursday evening, I was sprinting through Dubai’s infamous traffic vortex of the Sheikh Zayed Road to scout the shoot location: a walkway along the Dubai Canal, close to Dubai Design District. Golden hour was slipping away. I snapped quick smartphone shots, WhatsApp-ed them to the client for approval (thank you, read receipts), and got the green light.

Above gallery: Planning and execution usually happen on separate days. Not on this job. There was no luxury of time for that.

Gear Up or Go Home
Out came the big guns:

  • Gitzo GT5541LS tripod (because wobbles are for amateurs).

  • KPS T5 geared ballhead (the “Ferrari” of tripod heads).

  • Benro Polaris robotic head—programmed to shoot an 8-frame vertical panorama, each shot a ludicrous 102.4 megapixels.

  • Fujifilm GFX 100 II with the GF45-100mm lens (sharp enough to cut glass).

The robotic head did the heavy lifting, capturing overlapping frames while I prayed to the tech gods. By nightfall, I had GIGAPIXELS worth of raw data. Backup? Triple hard drives. Always.

Day 2: Retouching Hell (and Generative AI to the Rescue)

Friday: the day Photoshop and I became very intimate. The panorama stitched in Photoshop 2025 looked stunning… until I noticed the construction site ruining the entire central zone of the image, including the location where Burj Azizi would sit. Cranes, debris, night-time shift reflectors glaring, billboard backsides—nope. Cue 12 hours of generative AI witchcraft, manual cloning, and a Wacom pen that left my hand numb. By midnight, the canal was pristine.

The Green Dragon Gambit

In emergency mode, I transferred the cleaned-up panorama to Green Dragon Visuals, who lit and rendered the tower’s 3D model (provided by the client) like digital wizards. The composite came back—glorious. But then…

Panoramic image before and after the extensive retouching session which cleaned up all the unsightly construction on the other side of the canal and added a 3D CGI composite render of Burj Azizi.

Day 3: Client Curveball

“The visual’s too narrow! Stretch it wider!” Panic. Stretching a 35,000-pixel-wide image that’s already fully finished? Impossible. Unless… I found an extra shot on the panorama’s left edge (bless my over-shooting habit). But stitching it manually into the graded panorama? Hours of warping, cloning palm trees, and faking distant structures on the emptier right side. By Sunday night, it was done.

Finished composite panorama, which needed last second intervention on each side.

Monday Morning: Victory (and a Side of Adrenaline)

The final composite? A jaw-dropping blend of reality and CGI, sharp enough to survive close scrutiny at 18 PPI. Mounted on Sheikh Zayed Road, it stopped traffic—literally, given the 22 lanes. The client? Thrilled. Burj Azizi’s billboard now screams “A New Global Destination, Reaching For The Sky” to millions of drivers.

Lessons Learned

  1. Backup everything. Thrice.

  2. Robotic tripod heads for the win.

  3. Clients will ask for last-minute miracles.

  4. Us creatives are tougher than we think.

This project wasn’t just a billboard—it was a baptism by fire for Green Dragon Visuals’ debut. And hey, if we can make a 725-meter tower look small next to Dubai’s ambition, imagine what’s next.

P.S. To the construction crew across the canal: thanks for the “creative challenge.”

Fun Fact: Burj Azizi’s billboard campaign is part of a massive OOH blitz across Dubai, leveraging high-traffic zones to hype its 2028 completion. And yes, that is Jennifer Lopez headlining its sales launch. Priorities, people.