LesRoy's reviews

At the time we booked Crissy, she had photographed a handful of weddings and was just beginning to get her name out there. I had seen her work thanks to some Orange County knotties who had free boudoir sessions with her, and I was really amazed by her talent. We had already booked our photographer months before, but there was definitely trouble in paradise, and so I kept Crissy in mind.

At that time, I felt really conflicted: we had already paid a lot of money to our first photographer and didn't want to lose it, but we weren't happy with our engagement pictures either. I got in touch with Crissy by phone during the height of our issues with our first photographer to see if she could be the second shooter for our wedding. I really wanted some creative images, and even at that point, with little (paid) experience under her belt, she was already known for just that. Instead of talking to me as a vendor, Crissy talked to me as a friend and fellow bride, having just gotten married herself, and told me that it was really important to me to be completely happy with my photographer. In short, Crissy gave me the courage to convince my husband into pursuing a photographer we were completely satisfied with. It was a decision that neither my husband nor myself have ever regretted. We met with several photographers before Crissy, but once we met with her (and spent two hours joking around with her and her husband), we knew she was the one. I will never forget what my husband said after we left our initial meeting: "We're hiring her!" Anyone who really knows my husband knows that he's not normally that decisive, but he was obviously very impressed (and for good reason).

What can I say except that Crissy is amazing? She really worked with me to get our engagement pictures taken on the same day as my hair and makeup trial, even though it was on Father's Day. Our engagement pictures were all so beautiful and creative. Within two weeks I had a disc of all 60+ images.

One of the greatest things that Crissy does is get involved with her clients. She helped me with my indecision about flowers by sending me different images of flowers through email. She was the one who gave me the idea for our centerpieces. On my wedding day, she made me feel so good about everything (especially the way I looked) and even took on multiple roles. She helped my hairstylist put my veil in properly and retied my and my woman of honor’s bouquets (which sounds easier than it really was). She sat in the bridal room with me before I went to go see my husband for the first time, and we cried together. I even saw her wiping away tears at our ceremony. She was not only our wedding photographer; she was our friend. I felt really sad when she left for the day, because she had really become part of our lives.

Our wedding photos (900+) are nothing short of amazing. They make me feel like I'm reliving my wedding day again. I laugh and cry while looking at them, just as I laughed and cried on my wedding day. I have gotten so many compliments from so many people about our photos, and I think a lot of people that I know would have used her for their needs, but her prices have now skyrocketed. Still, I have recommended a lot of people to Crissy, because she was, hands down, our best vendor. She was worth every penny. I can honestly say that losing our $400 deposit for our first photographer was so worth it.

Our album is also beautiful. Crissy did a wonderful job designing it and even added in four extra pages for free.

I will definitely be using Crissy for our future needs. She captured such special moments in such a beautiful way that I feel that she is an integral part of our wedding day and our married life.

Dennis Tannen is located in Ontario but travels all over Southern California. My fiance and I were completely taken with him when we first met with him. He offers a great package, and confidence just radiates from him. Dennis is a nice and funny guy. The pictures he showed us at that first meeting were great. However, he didn't deliver nearly the same quality for us.

We took two sets of engagement pictures with him. Our first session lasted a whopping 30 minutes. With no warning at all, Dennis brought another couple along with him that day, because he was doing something with them after our shoot. The couple was in a completely different area than us, and they did not disturb the session. However, knowing they were there made us feel uncomfortable and rushed. Afterwards, our proofs were delivered to us within two days, with absolutely no editing done to them at all. We got a few good ones out of that session, but a lot of them were dark and/or blurry. Most of the pictures were lacking in imagination and creativity. Granted, he did fix three of the pictures when we brought these issues to his attention - but it took him about 4 months to get the fixed images to us.

I probably should've asked before we booked him whether or not he edited his proofs, but I made the (wrong) assumption that he did at least some editing. However, I did ask Dennis when we scheduled our first engagement session if he was going to Photoshop the images, and he said, "I'll make you look good." I'm still not sure what that means.

Our second session was supposed to last an hour and a half, but Dennis told us that day that he needed to leave early, so we only had an hour. I had high hopes for this session, because I was much more prepared. We spent a lot of time posing while trying to pretend we weren't posing ("posed candids"). We also spent some time waiting, because Dennis received about 3 phone calls, all of which he answered, during our session.

When we got the second set of engagement pictures back from him, I realized that Dennis is just a sloppy, lazy photographer. Some of the pictures look like anyone off the street could have taken them. Quite a few of the pictures seem to be randomly taken, with no thought whatsoever going into them. There is no sense of meaningful composition. None of them are edited. Additionally, some of the pictures in this set are the most unflattering pictures I have ever seen of myself. I expect much more from a professional photographer.

I do not expect a photographer to make me beautiful, but I do expect a photographer to use some judgment as to what poses and angles will flatter his/her subjects. I expect a photographer to take a shot as many times as possible until it is done just right.

The worst part about all this is that Dennis Tannen is simply not the photographer that he presents himself to be. We booked him expecting to get a photojournalistic photographer, but instead we got a very traditional and very boring (style-wise) photographer. In our initial conversation, he told us that he takes about 70% candid photographs and 30% posed, which is a gross exaggeration of the truth. Almost all of our photographs were posed. He had opportunities to take some candids, but he chose not to. Some of the photographs he took of us are the same poses that appear on his website. It left me feeling like our photos, even though they are of us, are extremely generic.

We ended up deciding that Dennis Tannen was not the photographer for our wedding day. We knew that we would have major regrets if we put our wedding day photos in his hands. We lost our $450 deposit in the process of letting him go, but we have a new photographer now that we have much more faith in.

However, there is one thing about our experience with Dennis Tannen that is good. We had almost completely paid off our balance with him, and he refunded all of it but the deposit. It could have been a messy and ugly battle, but he gave us our money back with no fuss.

I would strongly recommend that brides and grooms check out his website before meeting with him. The pictures in his temporary gallery (not the entrance page) are good indicators of the kind of photographs you will receive from him. Please remember that there are better photographers out there. Some of them charge less than he does. He is not worth what he charges. He is a nice guy and will easily make you trust him with his easygoing nature, but he really should consider honing his photography skills instead of settling for taking so-so pictures.