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Hugo "Haruo" Chikamori: Photographer





 
Born: Edmonton, AB, 1970

Haruo Chikamori has been shooting photography in some shape or form since 1984 when his late father got him a Mamiya Sekor TL500 35mm manual focus SLR. Since then he has taught himself the basics of exposure, shutterspeed and aperture...and has progressed from the basics to running his own freelance photography business.

Haruo has had numerous cameras from point and shoot and SLR 35mm cameras to digital cameras (both point and shoot and DSLR). He now prefers to work with Nikon 35mm film and DSLR cameras.

Currently his photographic arsenal includes a Nikon D300s body, a Nikon D50 body, AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 lens, AF 50mm f/1.8 D lens, a AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 ED VRII lens.

His photography interests range on three subjects hockey, wildlife and landscapes. However, his passion still remains his children and photographing his oldest son on the ice.

Haruo Chikamori: "I first got into photography when I was 13 years old in 1983, when my father bought me a Mamiya Sekor TL500 35mm single lens reflex camera.  It provided me with the first opportunity to handle a real camera.  From there my mother enrolled me in a photography class, but unfortunately the pace was such that I couldn't keep up and the non-immediacy of development was such that I couldn't understand the basics of photography which was shutter-speed, aperture and film-speed.  This affected my enjoyment of the hobby and I put my 35mm SLR aside for several years after that until the point and shoot Blacks 35mm came out.  I bought that and started played around with it for quite some time.  

My path to a photography career meandered through several side-tracks, one in real estate (1993 - 1998) and one year in security work, however I always kept gravitating towards SLR cameras and when the first DSLR the D100 came out I was hooked on trying to pick one up, but the price was absolutely astronomical, at least for a guy who was only working part-time at the time.  

I finally was able to get my hands on a DSLR in 2006 after unsuccessfully trying to establish a career as a web-designer.  It was then that I managed to buy a Nikon D50 entry level DSLR.  It served me well for four years until I decided that I had learned enough to do professional caliber photography.  

In 2010 I managed to purchase a D300s, Nikon AF-S DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 and an Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII which are the camera and lenses that I am currently using.

I don't remember when I first started to like hockey for hockey's sake.  I think it started somewhere in 1975.  Edmonton didn't have a hockey team then other than the Edmonton Oil Kings and they weren't the NHL, back then. 

So I picked the next best thing and decided to follow the Vancouver Canucks.  In 1976, my parents decided to uproot us from Edmonton and we packed our bags and moved to Maple Ridge.  I used to follow hockey on and off, but the Canucks weren't really doing well during the 70s and the early 80s with the exception of that 82 run to the Stanley Cup Finals when we were closed out in four by the NY Islanders.  And two more Stanley Cup Finals over four decades and I am a staunch Canucks fan for good.

My history with hockey photography started because of my son.  He plays two positions; forward and defense with the Surrey Thunder C team for the past three years.  He spent two years in PeeWee C and was a late cut from the A3 Rep team this year, his first year in Bantam.  So I shoot his games when he plays as well as his practices.  As of late, I've even been considering starting to video tape his games for a more rounded accounting of his season. 

I have enjoyed hockey photography now for over five years, having photographed him when he was with Surrey Rec Power Play Hockey and it's enjoyable to photograph both him and his team-mates throughout the season.  And...in hockey as well as in landscape photography:



A moment captured is a moment preserved."