I finally met David Guison in person and I even attended his “Blog Photography and Styling Workshop” which he conducted together with Lissa Kahayon. It is part of the Canon PhotoSkwela series and it was held yesterday at SM City North EDSA Annex.
David Guison and Lissa Kahayon discussed how they started blogging and showed us their previous pictures. You can see their transformation from their simple style (and simple pictures) to their current achievements in the blogging and fashion industry. David Guison also showed us his previous gadgets that he used in taking pictures before. These gadgets include an old Nokia cellphone, a Canon digicam and his DSLR, a Canon 1100D (similar to mine!). Now that inspires me to come up with brilliant photos as well. He’s definitely a great photographer!
Here are some of the cardinal rules of blogging that they shared. I love their PowerPoint presentation by the way. It’s very artistic.
- Give back (to your readers) – This can be in the form of blog contests and give-away.
- Quality (of posts) over quantity – It is better to have few interesting posts than lots of uninteresting ones.
- Value your audience – Take some time to reply to comments that you’re receiving in your blog.
- Be humble
- Never overshare (personal photos or information)
- Research plus incorporate your own
- Get your daily dose of inspiration
- Be patient (for blog traffic to increase)
- Be consistent – The most important thing in blogging is to blog regularly
- Be responsible (for your posts)
- Keep it simple but catchy – Pertaining to blog names and titles. Lissa Kahayon’s blog is Scene Stealer while David’s blog is simply named DG Manila. They also mentioned the importance of branding your blog by having your own logo
- Keep it interesting
- Write about what you know
They also discussed the advantages of blogging (like having a job) as well as the disadvantages. They even provided personal anecdote about some of the hate comments that they received and how they took it positively. David Guison also mentioned some of his favorite bloggers: Ponyhunter, Edric Chen, and Tricia Gosingtian.
They even answered the question on which platform would best host their blog. It doesn’t matter, according to them, whether you’re using Blogger, Wordpress, or Tumblr but it’s advisable for a blogger to have their own .COM website. It makes the blog more professional. David Guison started with Tumblr while Lissa Kahayon finds Blogger easy to use. They now have their own .COM sites.
I learned a few more things about David Guison and his works from this seminar. I learned that he also wrote and took some pictures for Inquirer, Ford, Bench, Century Tuna, SM, Multiply, Yahoo, Ray-Ban, among others.
Aside from watching David Guison the whole time (he’s indeed gorgeous), I was able to get some tips on how to improve my current blogs. They also gave some tips on Styling like:
- Examine what you have (in your closet)
- Work with what you have and challenge yourself
- Your personal style is a mix of your tastes, inspirations, aspirations and lifestyle
- Get inspiration, re-invent then own the look
- Experiment, take risks, be creative
- Plan, strategize
- Exude confidence!
- There is nothing wrong with repeating clothes
- Look the part, play the part
- The way you project yourself and how you want others to perceive you
I had a wonderful time attending the workshop of David Guison and Lissa Kahayon and I can definitely say that I’m a follower. Thank you Canon Philippines for having them as one of your Ambassadors. It’s definitely worth it. Thank you also to Greenwich for the delicious pizza!
