Instagram update is going to up your thirst trap game
Just when we thought the trend for Instagram filters was being overtaken by a desire to look more natural, the social media giants have thrown a curveball.
Instagram has launched a new portrait feature called ‘Focus’ which will blur out your background and sharpen your face so you look utterly superb, regardless of your whatever environment you’re in. AKA your thirst traps are going to get a hell of a lot thirstier.
Focus works like the iPhone portrait mode by providing a finessed image of you and your friend’s faces without the need to frame your shot with a nice background.
Insta keep finding new ways to help us look our best selves when we might feel our worst selves on a hangover and we can’t be delighted enough.
Instagram said: “As soon as there’s someone in the shot, you’ll notice the person stays in focus while the background softly blurs — making sure they stand out in a striking way.”
But what does the new filter actually mean for day-to-day use of the app?
High def precision
The Focus filter is said to imitate the definition and professional standard of a top-range DSLR camera.
Focus uses face detection technology to spot faces in a photo.
The filter is one step further by Instagram towards letting users take their own professional-standards photos, fit for work and play.
The photos have a formalised feel to them, so could have a diverse set of uses on and off of Instagram.
Enhanced Stories
The feature can be used on still portraits posted to your feed, but also added to video content and your Stories too.
And the feature can be used on the selfie and back-facing camera modes of your phone, and doesn’t require dual cameras.
When you’re done with taking the pic or video you can add text, filters or stickers on top and share Direct, add to your story or post to your feed.
Imperfections are a thing
Early users have reported a slight blurring to the edges of faces where face meets blurred background, but hey we’d expect some small teething issues.
Plus no filter is perfect – we’ve all been victim of having animal features put on weird parts of our faces.
Accessible to all!
Only iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus cameras had anything like this portrait feature before, but now it’s accessible us lowly iPhone 6ers – we can finally free ourselves from the constraints of borrowing friends’ phones for selfies.
