Continuing decades of photography at Helmbrecht's

Derek Hann for the Havre Daily News

Helmbrecht Photography, a long-standing business in Havre, recently celebrated its 74th anniversary, making it one of the oldest continuously operated photography studios in Montana.

Owner Steve Helmbrecht, who purchased the business from his father, Vern Helmbrecht, said that keeping the business in operation is a strong source of pride for him.

He added that the building was constructed in the 1920s and was originally built to be a photography studio. He said, to his knowledge, Helmbrecht Photography is the oldest professional photography studio operating in its original location, in the state. 

His father purchased the business from Myrtle Fullmer after returning from service in World War II, Helmbrecht said. He added that his father was a photographer for the U.S. Navy and was deployed to North Africa during the war. 

The business has been in his family ever since.

Helmbrecht said that his love for photography came from always being around it. It always being a part of his life.

He said that back in the 1950s many of the photographs were still black and white, and there were about five other businesses in town, which sent photographs to his father to be developed. 

He said he remembers as a child, coming into the studio to help his father with a number of smaller jobs, such as picking up and delivering film from businesses.

"I didn't get my hands really wet with chemicals and materials until I was in high school," Helmbrecht said.

Helmbrecht added that, once he was a little older, he started helping his father, working with the materials needed for the job and the chemicals that were used to develop the photographs.

He said he remembers going to photography conventions with his father and remembers how well-respected his father was.

His father was a very committed, hard-working person, he said. He added that during the busy season he remembers his father driving hundreds and hundreds of miles to different jobs across the state and being in the studio until 11 p.m. developing and processing photos.

He added that his grandfather would also come in to work for his father and helped with the business for a period of time.

After graduating from high school, Helmbrecht went to study journalism at the University of Montana in 1975, where his love and understanding of photography only grew and deepened, he said. He added that he also started developing his own style and technique while working for the university's student newspaper.

He said that he also learned a lot from his father, whom he apprenticer under for three years, from 1979 to 1981. 

But he didn't immediately take over the business, he said. He said that after he apprenticed under his father he went to work for a photography company in the midwest for about a year before the opportunity to buy the family business came up.

His father was 65 at the time and was ready to retire. His father told him that he was going to sell the business and offered to sell it to him, Helmbrecht said. He accepted and officially took over the business in 1983.

"It was quite overwhelming in that the business part is as important as the artistic part, which was a big shock," Helmbrecht said. "You have to strategically figure out how to make photographic business viable the entire year, rather than just during the holidays and the busy seasons."

Photography is a unique business because it blends together an art form with business, he said. He added that this meant that he had to make sure what he was offering was up-to-date and keep up with the changing marketplace trends.

One of the biggest changes in the industry was the introduction of digital cameras, he said. He and his father were trained in more classical photography, working with different types of lighting, shutter speeds and other more mechanical things. With the introduction of digital cameras, those old techniques are still useful, but the new thing photographers had to keep in mind was all of the different sensors in the camera.

Even with the fastest auto winder back in the day, Helmbrecht said, photographers could take about three frames per second, but now photographers can take more than 10 per second.

He said it is important to keep up-to-date on the changing technology and all of the different programs and systems photographers can use to keep from becoming absolute. He added that with digital camera programs such as Photoshop became more and more important to the job.

He said he didn't have very much trouble learning and adjusting to the Photoshop program. Helmbrecht said if a photographer knows what kind of photos they want to take and how they want to use the program it is much easier to figure out what tools in the program they will need.

"If you know where you want to go, it's a lot easier to get there than just having all of these tools before you and not having an idea of what you want to do with them," he said.

Another thing that revolutionized photography was the introduction of drones, he said.

"It's a whole new way of looking at things. It's a whole different perspective," he said. "We've never had anything like that before. It's probably as big of a revelation, almost, as digital photography was."

He said that photography now is much more complicated than it was when he first got into the profession, but in many ways it's more enjoyable. 

"It's more exciting in that you continue to learn every day, and that's the most fun is the learning part," he said. "You are never stuck. Every day is different."

Since Helmbrecht took over the business in 1983, he has also won a number of awards and degrees in photography, he said. In 2007, Helmbrecht was honored with becoming a master photographer, which is the highest degree of photographic competency recognized by the Professional Photographers of America. He was also honored with a Craftsman degree from the Professional Photographers of America for his speaking and service to professional photography.

These two degrees are not easy to obtain, he said. He added that it took him a long time to earn the two degrees, and he is very proud of the work and the quality of the work he has done.

But he wouldn't be where he is today if it was not for his family, employees and the community supporting him, he said. 

"(The community) has given me a livelihood, so I need to just give back to them and show them how I appreciate the ability to fulfill myself in a career and just in a physical way in this community," he said.

Helmbrecht has been a member of a number of fraternal organizations in Havre as well as teaching a class on ceramics at Montana State University-Northern. He has also volunteered himself and his business for a number of community fundraisers over the years, most recently the Toys for Tots program last December and the Feed My Sheep Soup Kitchen Fundraiser, which was through the Havre Art Association. 

He added that his current employee, Heather Parker, has been with the business since 2006, and before her Alice Philippi had been with the business for 62 years.

He said he doesn't know what is in the future for Helmbrecht Photography, but he hopes it will continue. He added that Helmbrecht Photography has been in Havre for a long time and has a great archive of photographs of Havre throughout the years. 

"It's a real treasure of Havre's people," he said.

Helmbrecht has three children, Jade, Keegan and Anders, who are grown up and have careers of their own, but he would love to see one of them take the business, he said. He added that Jade, in the past year, worked with him at the studio, and it was fun to work beside his family.

"I will treasure those moments all the time," Helmbrecht said. "Working with your son or daughter in your business is one of those real treats in being a parent."