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HEBER CITY — Instagram released their new video application on June 20, and people around the world have enjoyed sharing their videos. One Utah man helped make those video memories more colorful.
Denver Riddle, 30, is a Heber City native who studied digital media at Utah Valley University. In 2008, he began specializing in designing color effects for videos and photos. As a new "colorist," Riddle had to teach himself many of the techniques.
"It's a very specialized trade," he said. "There's not a lot of training for it. It's only been around 12 or 13 years."
Riddle became a master at digitally enhancing aesthetics and color exposure, and soon established his own website and online tutorials to teach others. He was eventually contacted by Facebook at the beginning of 2013 to do the color effects for several of their commercials, including the new Facebook Home.
Riddle sold Facebook the exclusive rights to use several of his color effects packs for the mobile platform. As a result, Riddle was asked to create the color effects when Facebook-owned Instagram decided to release videos.
"I think I was just in the right place at the right time," Riddle said. "They were one of my clients and I had previously done work for them."
Riddle created 14 color effects that can be applied to give the Instagram videos a certain look. The popularity of the videos was almost instant. Within the first 24 hours of adding the video feature, a reported year's worth of video was shot and shared around the world, according to blog.instagram.com
Riddle said the experience of being involved with Instagram and Facebook has been a rewarding one.
"For me one of the most exciting aspects of this opportunity is that the masses get to enjoy something that I've created," he said. "They get to experience something that I've been a part of."
