About Me

Hi, I’m Darren – a wedding photojournalist with a street photographer’s eye.

I’ve been photographing weddings since 2012, capturing hundreds of couples and thousands of fleeting moments across the UK (and occasionally further afield).

I’m now based near Bristol, in North Somerset but shoot weddings all across the UK and beyond.

A Street Photographer Who Shoots Weddings

My background is in candid street photography, where nothing is posed and everything is about timing, instinct, and storytelling. That’s the same approach I bring to your wedding day. I don’t direct or stage moments — I watch, anticipate, and capture them as they unfold naturally. The laughter, the nerves, the chaos, the quiet in-between bits… all the things that make your wedding your story.

“I felt I was looking at the self-selected work of Magnum photographers…as Darren Lehane’s images demonstrate in a series of shots where all the craziness is going down in the same picture plane.“

Colin Westerbeck, co-author of ‘Bystander: The History of Street Photography’)

I got my first camera as a teenager in the mid 1980’s. I turned fully digital in 2006. I started taking candid street photography seriously around 2004. I shot my first wedding in 2012.

I also license documentary, news and editorial stock images via Getty Images and Alamy, with my images being widely published around the world by news outlets, media publications and advertising agencies.

What You Can Expect From Me

Relaxed & stress-free photography – No awkward posing, no standing around for hours.

True-to-life storytelling – Your photos will feel authentic, real, and timeless.

Professional & experienced – 15+ years behind the camera at weddings, friendly and courteous throughout your day.

Yes, group shots too – If you want portraits or family photos, we’ll get them done quickly and naturally. Read more here.

I see wedding photography as more than just pictures, it’s a way of preserving your day for future generations. The images I capture aren’t just for you, they’ll become a part of your family’s history…precious and priceless family heirlooms.

My Photographic Story

Family photo in the 1970s. At the front, I am sat next to my grandmother who is holding my younger brother. Behind us, my Nan stands in a white polka dot dress, my mother in a pink blouse sits at the table, and my father stands at the back in a red sweater.

My Nan was an avid amateur snapper. Whenever I visited, I’d be fascinated by her piles of photo albums, thumbing through page after page of family moments and everyday life. She even used to let me play with her Kodak Instamatic (without film, of course!) — and though I didn’t realise it at the time, the seed was sown.

My Nan is the lady in the white dress above and that’s me sitting at the front.

Fast forward to my teens, and I was determined to be in a synth pop band. I bought a synth, formed a band, and dreamed of stardom. The only problem? I couldn’t sing or play a note. But music gave me something else: an appreciation of music photography. Discovering Anton Corbijn’s moody, atmospheric portraits of bands showed me that photography could be as powerful and expressive as music itself. I figured if I couldn’t be a rock star, photography was the next best thing.

Around the same time, fate played its part again. My mum won an SLR camera in a competition. She had no use for it, so she handed it to me. That gift changed everything — and the rest, as they say, is history.

A little about me outside photography

In 2021 I left London to live on the coast in North Somerset with my partner K and our little “Shorkie” dog, Buddy.

I’m a long suffering West Ham United supporter, love music (everything from indie to techno, classical to jazz), had the odd short story published and have attempted screenplays.

My 5 favourite films are The Third Man, Get Carter (the Michael Caine original, obvs!), Blade Runner, Back To The Future and, for Christmas, It’s A Wonderful Life.

One fun fact about me, I once appeared on the ITV game show Family Fortunes many years ago. And, yes, we won! That’s a much younger me, at the front in stripy top, after the filming of the show…yes, I did once have hair!