You know, it's not required that you keep your canopy level and at the same height... and it's silly to think that only GOOD growers do it this way! The whole point of LST is to get the secondary bud sites out away from the main stem so they can get more light.... if the plant ends up looking like a Christmas tree or a giant green, flat pillow, either is ok! Keeping the canopy even is a technique called SCROG.. for this, you need netting - so don't worry about it!
As for defoliation, I've recently run across an article that is now included in my "bible" for all my grows... it tells you WHY, HOW and WHEN ... and backs it all up with the reasons and it's brilliant.... I'll give you the link - I think you will find it PERFECTLY timed for where you are in your grow (which looks great, btw!)
https://www.growweedeasy.com/nebulas-super-simple-3-step-defoliation-tutorial
Good luck!