Complaint Review: Leffand Studios

heather,

here is why you cannot expect to get your money back.  

wedding photography is the "first rung" of the commercial photography market.  its the easiest way in, because you're not dealing with professional clients (art directors, editors, photography editors), you're just dealing with the public, and the public often isn't very sophisticated in how they select their wedding photography.  for the newbie wedding photographer, its a great gig, because you can charge thousands of dollars for one day of photography.

wedding photography got saturated with alot of folks who really aren't very good at it, particularly leading up to the crash in 2009.  an honest and objective look at the "slide show" provided by your shooter reveals him to be another so-so photographer.  look at the work...its not color balanced, shows no understanding of using bounce flash or soft fill light.  its mediocre stuff...so in 2009 he got culled from the herd.

most wedding studios also spend it as they make it, meaning that even though you payed for an album and prints - that money was spent on operating expenses (or an xbox or dinner out or whatever).  wedding photography is an ok gig, but really very few people crack six figures doing it....and many struggle to just make ends meet and crawl into the next season.

Lenny probably isn't a bad person, he just got in over his head...and any money he's making now is probably being spent just to keep his current operation afloat.

you will never, ever get your money back.

best wishes.

- MHP

ps - i found his hit/miss ratio absurd.  6000 images shot to get to a 600 image final edit?  that is a horrifying statistic, trust me.

Lenny, the truth is I PAID for albums and pictures not just proofs. My final payment for the albums which you took willingly when you knew you were in financial ruin was not only fruad but dishonest.    If you were a victim as you claim why not return my numerous calls, you did not return one call to explain the situation.  Not one response did I get from you via phone or email.  You should have not taken my final payment or you should have returned my payment, so you a theif because I paid you for a product I NEVER recieved. That is my definition of fraud.  You took my money and never produce a product or returned by numerous calls regarding the situation.  

As far as the proofs, most pictures needed photoshop to remove exit signs and other things out of the photos which only a photographer with talent would know to not to shoot or remove from images.  

The bottom line is I paid for albums and photos and you never produced those two things.  

Leffand Studio closed it's doors on January 1st, 2009 a victim of the recession. While it is true that you and other clients did not receive their albums, not a single client, including you, did not receive all of their fully edited and adjusted proof images on both disc and in print. 

Here is a link the email I sent to you on 6/10/2009 indicating the shipment was sent: UPS Shipping Confirmation Please note since the shipment is over three years old, the UPS site does not contain tracking data that old, however, I am fairly certain that if you or anyone who reads this would like to contact UPS with the shipping number of 1Z5EY0840314431210 they can pull the information from their archives.

Not only, did you you receive your fully adjusted proof images and proof prints, you, I also gave a you a disc with all of your original unedited images on them, something I never do for a client but since you were so insistent upon seeing all 5,000+ images that were shot as opposed simply the 600+ edited adjusted proof images you viewed online (prior to the shipment of discs and proof prints) I agreed to send a disc containing those images as well.

A note to both you and anyone who might read this, I would shoot approximately 4,000 to 5,000 images in any given 12-16 hour wedding shoot covering getting ready through the end of the reception. From that base of 4,000 to 5,000 images typically the best 500 to 700 images are chosen to be hand edited for delivery to clients as "proof images". The reason the image count is so high is due to the fact that I shoot many candids, some of which are exceptional, however, many shots do not work for one reason or another. That is why the few thousand images are cut down to the best few hundred. 

Also, it would be irresponsible to deliver 4,000-5,000 images to a customer, think about it, how would you like to go through that many images? It usually took me, a professional photographer and editor, 16 hours of effort to review that many images to derive the final set of 500 to 700 images to edit and deliver to a customer.

Regarding your rant about my skills as a photographer, here is the link to your slideshow so that anyone who reads your opinion of my work may make their own independent assessment of my work: Heather and Tim Slideshow

Regarding you libelous statement that I "fled town and is now in New jersey scamming others" I did not sneak out of town in the middle of the night. I did move New Jersey, I am no longer in the photography business nor scamming anyone as you claim. 

It was a painful decision to close Leffand Studio in 2009 due to the recession, however, I was not alone, over 200,000 small businesses closed their doors during the recession: News Story: Economy lost more than 200,000 small businesses in recession, Census shows

I understand your frustration that you did not receive your album as did other customers and for that I sincerely apologize. However, I will reiterate that you and every other customer of Leffand Studio did in fact, receive their proof images on disc and in print (if their contract called for a disc or prints or both as your contract did). Not a single customer of Leffand Studio was ever left without the images and memories from their wedding. 

Sincerely, 

Leonard Leffand