Instagram’s New Features Will Turn You Into A Photography Pro

Instagram added a slew of new editing features Tuesday that go beyond the scope of an ordinary filter, giving photos taken on your humble smartphone a professional veneer.

With a new update, phone photographers will be able to edit their photos to incrementally alter brightness, saturation, contrast, warmth, shadows, sharpness, filter strength, and more.

Instagram’s blog explains the specifics of how to use the tools, which are unlocked when you tap a wrench icon that appears at the point of filter selection.

“All of us [at Instagram] are kind of photo geeks, but we’re trying to bridge the gap between being a photo geek and the rest of the world,” Peter Deng, director of product at Instagram, told Mashable of the new tools, which have been in the works for just under six months. “Instagram’s always been about taking these tools that were previously inaccessible … and making them accessible for free for everyone that uses Instagram.”