Tumblr

Yet another window on out ever-shrinking world, Tumblr is Dupe's latest mini-site.

Designed to give people an idea of what we're up to on a more personal level, Tumblr should give you an idea of the things that are currently shaping our collective psyche. If you've got the time, you should think about setting up an account of your own. You'll find yourself immersed in a complex weave of various different communities (like Facebook but with less drunken photos).

Record-Breaker

Dupe played their part in Mozilla's recent push to break the world record for 'most downloads in a day' (actually, I don't think there was a previous record, but this was the first to be counted by Guinness). Click here for more on the 'event'.

On a slightly more serious note, Firefox's rise has been pretty amazing (15% of all computers now use the browser?) and this latest version is superb. If you don't use it (especially if you're reading this blog on Internet Explorer) then I suggest you head here and download it right now. Or else.

Another week, another networking event.

This time it was the LDP Business Hub, held at the Liverpool ACC. It was the first time I had been inside the new arena and it was pretty darn impressive.

The event itself was an interesting experience. Aimed mainly at bigger businesses than ours, it was none-the-less a good chance to dish out business cards and sit through a few seminars. We're always up for a bit of learning, us Dupe boys.

Plus, I got a free USB pen drive just for showing up. Bonus.

Kin2Kin Networking Event

Last night I attended a networking event organised by the Merseyside creative newtwork Kin2Kin. A chance to meet just a few of the 1700 local creatives who have signed up to the network, it proved to be a great night (the free drinks and bites being just a small part of it's success).

My second networking event in recent weeks, I've found that I'm getting better and better at approaching total strangers. A few that I had the chance to speak to included Nick Taylor from E-Blueprint, John Scotland of The Cutting Room and Lee Adams of LocalServ.com.

Hopefully Dupe's path will cross with such local companies and individuals in the future. Collaboration was one of the key themes of the night, and it's good to know that there is such a wealth of talent in the area.


On a side note, Dupe will next week be launching it's Fresh Local Produce campaign, directly targeting local companies. Click here for further information, or watch this space for updates.

HDR Photography

This is our first attempt at a HDR photo. Taken during my trip to Rome last week, this famous building looks over a square containing one of the most incredible buildings of the world. Built circa 125 AD, the Pantheon is one of those structures which defies the time of it's creation.

HDR photography first grabbed my attention about a year ago when the work of Stuck in Customs was presented to me via Flickr.

Anyway, after finally downloading a copy of Photomatix and taking an appropriate RAW file I jumped into the process (helped largely by a tutorial on Wirral based photographer, Pete Carr).

Whilst I am pleased with my first effort, I'm very keen to become even more knowledgeable on the subject - we at Dupe are confident that there is a commercial opportunity for the technique and hope to utilise our new found knowledge on an upcoming project.

CD Cases Arrive

The CD cases arrived this week and look great. Thanks to LT Print Group for printing and finishing them to their usual high standard.

These will mainly be used by Matt, to send out files to our photographic clients. Labels are printed directly on to the CD using our new printers (I have a HP 5160 whilst Matt is using an Epson Stylus Photo R285).