Brant Photographers is hanging in there, despite a drop in business caused by do-it-yourselfers armed with digital cameras and the towering multi-use developments that threaten to swallow it up.

The studio, located on the corner of Old Main Street and 100th Avenue Northeast, is one of Bellevue’s longest-running business, according to the Eastside Heritage Society.

Bill Brant founded the company 60 years ago at Bellevue Square when the shopping center was still an open-air mall.

Most of the clients today are regulars whose families have counted on the studio for generations.

The late Kenneth Rose and his wife, Arlene, bought the operation in 1971 after working with Brant for over 10 years. They didn’t bother to change the name.

“It had a great reputation,” Arlene said. “We didn’t see any reason to change it.”

The Brant signature had to be inscribed on all the prints by hand in those days, which meant someone would have to master the founder’s left-handed autograph.

“It’s hard to copy that kind of signature, especially if you’re not left-handed,” Arlene said.

But Kenneth, too, was a lefty, and he had Brant’s inscription down well before taking control of the studio.

Rob started working for the business when he was still in grade school.

“I had him folding price lists and doing the very easiest things I needed help with,” Arlene said.

Rob eventually learned the Brant signature and started buying shares of the studio in the mid-1980s. He took over the company entirely when his father passed away in 1997.

Kenneth worked at the studio until his last days.

“I enjoyed all that time we spent working together,” Rob said. “We had similar personalities, so it was a lot of fun. We were both fun-loving, and we didn’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Arlene, 80, still works at the studio, handling most of the administrative work.

Rob has done photography now for 30 years. He began at age 8 with a Kodak Fiesta, and later graduated to a 35-millimeter Retina Reflex that his father bought him.

“It was always really fascinating for me,” he said. “It became a fun hobby.”

Rob honed his skills capturing images of India while participating in an exchange program during high school. He later worked for his father and shot weddings.

“All that experience comes into play every time I take a job.”

Rob said he prefers to set aside at least an hour to develop rapport with each client before shooting.

“If I can’t develop a relationship with the client, I don’t want the job,” he said. “I need to know what their personality is like so I can capture that.”

Brant Photographers didn’t go digital until Rob felt the technology could meet his standards for quality. The switch finally came in 2003.

“Three megapixels wasn’t going to be enough for a good wall portrait,” he said. “Once they got to 10, I felt like the quality was getting really good.”

Rob says digital technology has made print making easier, but the art of picture-taking still takes a trained eye.

“You still need to draw the best out of the clients and relate to your subjects,” he said. “The digital camera doesn’t do that. It needs a person and a personal touch.”

Joshua Adam Hicks can be reached at 425-453-4290