Since I started using the new Lightroom Masking Panel I have noticed a "depth range" option that has always been greyed out but today I discovered that some of my images were in HEIC format rather than RAW and when I reviewed the images in question I discovered that the depth range option was active.
Today's iPhones come with multiple cameras and sometimes even special sensors to sense 3D space which means the device can detect depth.
Photographs taken with more recent iPhones set to capture images using Apple’s HEIC file format save the out of focus area behind a subject as a depth map and embeds it into the file. Lightroom can use that depth map as a mask to help select and edit the background.
According to all that I have read this only works in portrait mode but I usually only shoot in landscape. The Lightroom tool is easy to use and in this instance I selected the cyclist and inverted the mask to select the rest of the image which I blurred or defocused.
I should mention that I use Halide rather than the native camera app.
Father Collins Park, Ireland’s first wholly sustainable park, is located on Hole in the Wall Road, and was officially re-opened by the Lord Mayor of Dublin and blessed by Archbishop Diarmuid Martin on 27th May 2009, following a €20M redevelopment project. The 52-acre park was named in honour of Fr. Joe Collins, Parish Priest of Holy Trinity from 1975 to 1979, who was instrumental in securing the lands in public ownership for recreational use.
