Calnen of Nova Scotia

Halifax, Canada

3

2 reviews

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 902-423-8840
Address:
1469 Birmingham St, Halifax, NS, B3J 2J4
Spring Garden
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
690 ftGo Time 480-7247 - Morris at Birmingham
740 ftGo Time 480-7246 - Morris at Spencer House
0.2 miGo Time 480-6122
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Bussiness info

Accepted Cards
Credit, Debit
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (Halifax) 4:59 PM Sunday, May 25, 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Calnen Photography specializes in graduation portraits for universities and high schools. We also do all types of commercial, studio and on-​location photography including weddings, pets, business portraits, actors/​models, industrial and architectural work. We are a locally-​owned company, established in 1972.

The school portrait division of our company is Nova Scotia School Pictures which has been providing studio-​quality school portraits to elementaries and high schools since 1982.

Our Halifax location at 1469 Birmingham St. (just off Spring Garden Rd.) is conveniently located for our university customers. There is plenty of metered and two-​hour parking on nearby streets and we are next door to the Spring Garden area parking lot.

Feel free to come in and browse our gallery or to ask about your photographic needs.

History

Established in 1972.

Established in 1972

Calnen Photography was established in 1972 by Robert and Barbara Calnen. It is now a second generation business. The original studio was located at 5508 Stairs Place in Halifax’s historic Hydrostone neighbourhood. That building is now the site of our solarium studio: a photographic greenhouse designed to look like nature. It is great for weddings and family groups – even in inclement weather.

Robert reveived the Canadian Professional Photographer of the year Award in 1975.

The portrait studio was moved to 1469 Birmingham St. about ten years ago. Several years later the building was renovated, keeping the historic flavour of the century-​old original premises. It now houses a gallery (which sometimes hosts the work of other local artists) and a fully-​equipped portrait studio.

Light and Lens Studio in Wolfville is run by Jason Calnen.

Calnen Photography is the longest-​established portrait studio in Halifax.

Meet the Manager

Kerry D.

Manager

Kerry is a graduate of the University of King’s College and holds degrees in Arts and Honours Journalism. After graduating in 1980, he worked for the Halifax Chronicle-​Herald. In 1985 he and a co-​worker started their own photography studio on Quinpool Rd. Kerry was photographer/​lab technician/​manager there until 1993 when he began working in school photography.

This wealth of varied experience in comercial, industrial, portrait and school photography led to his joining Calnen Photography in 2005.

The profile photo attached here was taken by Robert Calnen back in 1976 when Kerry graduated with a BA from King’s. He had no idea he’d be managing Robert’s studio so many years later!

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Vicinity

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Kings Krown Company
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2 reviews of Calnen of Nova Scotia

No registration required
Place rating: 3
Halifax, Canada
Graduating from Dalhousie, I was recommended by the school to take my portrait shots with Calnen. Naively, I didn’t research the other options available.
I arrived at the studio with a friend who also wanted portraits, and the staff were awesome at accommodating us both. We were able to sit in the room as the photographer worked, instructing the model on how to pose. He was friendly, honest and genuine, telling us what did/didn’t look good on camera. The shots came out very well, and both of us were pleased! I opted to go with the larger package (+$ 4 I believe) allowing me thumbnails of 16 poses to take home and review. We were told that we would receive the thumbnails by email within a few business days.
After a week, we called the studio curious as neither of us had yet received the photos. They quickly sent them along, attaching the order form. Packages begin at $ 59 and range up to $ 306 depending on desired sizes. It was only then that I realized it would not be possible to order prints of more than one pose within one package.
For example, my family only wanted three 8×10 prints, but I would have had to purchase three separate units. 1 unit = 1−8×10, 2– 5×7, 4−4×6, 8−2×3. I would have also liked full-​size digital copies of various unedited photo proofs (as opposed to the provided thumbnails), but again when requested, I was told that this was not available. An edited, print-​quality digital file of one pose is $ 200 unless added to a package ($ 75).
Although I liked the quality of service provided by Calnen Photography, I was left disappointed by their lack of flexibility in ordering prints.
Place rating: 3
Ottawa, Canada
In spring of 2008, I headed to Calnen in order to have grad photos taken.
I was impressed with the reasonably low fee for the photo shoot (around $ 20 as I recall) and the availability in terms of times I could choose to come in.
I didn’t like the prompts I was given in terms of the photos. «Lower your chin, more, more… look up… turn your head slightly to the right… and… SMILE.» Yeah, that’s going to be authentic looking.
As a result, I wasn’t terribly impressed with the photos. I didn’t end up actually ordering any of them. I could have gone back for a free photo session, but I had a feeling my experience would be pretty much the same. Just a so-​so experience at ‘Calnen.’