Lightroom's New Lens Blur Panel Is the Background Blur Feature We've Been Waiting For (Sort Of)

Lightroom's New Lens Blur Panel Is the Background Blur Feature We've Been Waiting For (Sort Of)

Every few months I get the same DM from someone who just discovered Lightroom: “Can I blur the background without going into Photoshop?” For years, my honest answer was no. You could drag Texture and Clarity into the negatives and get something that looked like a photo taken through a shower door, but nothing that actually simulated a shallow depth of field. That was always a round-trip-to-Photoshop situation. The October 2023 update to Lightroom Classic changes that answer, at least partially.