Want to take depth-of-field images in the Instagram camera?
Well, now you can thanks to a new feature in Instagram 39.0 for iOS which allows you to take portraits with blurred backgrounds similar to Apple’s Portrait shooting mode.
available on iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X, this new mode is called Focus and found next to “Superzoom” under the Record button.
Focus mode only works if there’s a person in your photo or video.
It’s cool that Focus mode works in both selfie mode and the rear camera shooting mode. This feature constantly analyzes what’s in your photo and as soon as it detects a person it applies a soft blur to the background while leaving the subject sharp and in focus.
It’s especially great that you can shoot video in Focus mode.
When you’re done, feel free to use Instagram’s creative tools to pretty up your portraiture photography with filters, stickers and text before sending your depth of field photo or video to friends on Instagram Direct or adding it to your story.
iOS users can also use the all-new @mention sticker.
After taking a photo or video with the Stories camera, open the Stickers tray and tap the new @mention sticker. Now start typing the name of the account you want to mention and select one from the auto-populated options that appear.
You can then rotate, scale and place your sticker wherever you’d like.