Don't ruin your lenses by doing this!

We’re back with another deep-dive—this time unpacking the painful realities of gear maintenance, the chaos of wedding season, and the business side of being a creative. From ruining expensive cinema lenses to structuring airtight contracts, from mastering harsh lighting to finalizing your folder structures, this one’s full of practical insights (and some expensive lessons).

We start with the most expensive mistake we've ever made: ruining lenses with fungus. We talk about the misconception that all high-end glass is weather-sealed and the heartbreaking realization that treating your lenses like "plants"—giving them air and light—is actually crucial. If you think your gear is safe in a dark case, this segment might save you thousands of dollars.

From there, we jump into shooting conditions. Shooting a wedding in direct sunlight at noon is a nightmare for most, but we break down how to handle it when your "moody" presets fail. We discuss the essentials of flash photography—why you need to graduate from TTL to manual power, how to bounce light effectively, and why off-camera flash is worth the hassle even for a one-man band.

Then it’s time to get technical with data and business. If you don't back up your footage immediately, you aren't just lazy; you're asking for a lawsuit. We share our exact folder hierarchy for video projects to keep editors sane and dive deep into contracts. We explain why you must separate "content creation" from "usage" in your agreements so you get paid for the work you did, even if the client never posts the video.

But it’s not just about the tech. We dig into the mindset side too—specifically the debate of "how you do anything is how you do everything." We argue why you should bring your best gear and effort even to low-budget shoots to build consistency, and why relying on electronic shutters or underexposing images by four stops "to be safe" is actually holding you back.

We wrap with some hot takes: why owning more than 20 presets is a trap, why the "vintage film" editing phase is inevitable for everyone, and the real definition of a "filmmaker" (hint: it’s about way more than just recording a pretty image).

If you’re a beginner looking to avoid costly gear mistakes or a working creative trying to refine your contracts and workflow, this episode is packed with advice that’ll keep you sharp, motivated, and grounded in what really matters.

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Hosted by: Luke Montgomery and Cort Letcher