[rahulrav]

Yes. That is correct. Just wanted to see if the idea in my head actually worked. I was surprised by how decent it turned out especially given that I did not do anything “clever”.

[tobr]

The image you used as an example already has some nice shallow depth of field from the beginning, which I think really helps make blend the effect in the end result. Did you try applying the effect to an actual selfie, which usually has more even focus?

[cheschire]

One "clever" idea someone had was the use of the depth camera on the new iPhones to isolate the subject.

Rather than using a hardware solution, this is a good software solution that can be accomplished on more devices.