What we learned shooting content in 30 countries last year

Last year we shot content in 30 countries. Some projects lasted a week. Others were 48-hour turnarounds. Here are the biggest lessons from a year of nonstop travel production.

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Backup everything twice. We lost a memory card in Morocco. Now we back up to two drives every night, no exceptions. Cloud sync happens the moment we hit Wi-Fi.

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Pack for the worst weather, not the forecast. Shoots in Iceland taught us that conditions change by the hour. A rain cover for the camera and a sealed bag for lenses saved us more than once.

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Build buffer days into every schedule. Flights get delayed. Weather shifts. Locations look different in person. One extra day per project saves the entire production when things go wrong.

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Local fixers are worth every dollar. A good local contact finds you the best light, navigates permits, and knows spots that do not appear on Google Maps. We budget for this on every international shoot.

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Relationships matter more than content. The best projects came from clients we had worked with before. Delivering quality once leads to repeat work. That compounds over years.

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Thirty countries taught us one thing above all: preparation is what makes creativity possible on the road.