About

Born and raised in Aiea, HI :: Fell in love with automotive photography in ’99 as a freshman in high school :: Took on a personal project which led to establishing a nationally recognized import automotive website, DOHCcorp.com/DOHCresearch.com, and managed it over 10+ years :: Skilled automotive photographer and graphics/web designer :: Notepad junky, spending hours on clean html coding rather than utilizing webpage design software :: Garage mechanic since ’02 :: Grease monkey at Jiffy Lube as a Certified Upper-Bay Technician from ’04-’07 :: Ex-autocross/roadracer :: Misses his track-prepped ’97 Acura Integra, sometimes… :: Graduate of UH Manoa – Shidler College of Business with a BA in Finance :: Number cruncher at Bank of Hawaii as a Commercial Credit Senior Analyst from ’08-’11 :: Avid fixed-gear cyclist :: Likes to think way outside the box :: Enjoys deep discussions about pointless things :: Japan living since ’11

colinwaki.com
Documents my own unique experiences that occur throughout my life to help retain the feelings and memories that each moment brings; similar to an old song that makes you remember everything at the particular time when it was of some significance to you. Visualize my journey and perceive my thoughts.

dohcresearch.com
DOHCcorp/DOHCresearch is a long term project that grew from a small personal webpage started up in ’98 on a free Geocities-hosted website. After I became more interested in automotive photography and upgrading to the now obsolete Sony DSC-F707 digital camera, DOHCcorp.com was established in 1999, which was the original company name. Through time, shooting friends’ modestly “souped up” cars expanded to photoshoots with other local car enthusiasts and clubs in the Hawaii import scene.

I was also fortunate to be an apprentice to Steven Smyth, the original founder of SpeedHawaii.com, who brought global exposure to Hawaii’s automotive scene over the internet. A few other websites were in existence at that time, including the very popular 808rides.net (Marc and Kazzy) and eight08.net (Peter), that also contributed to the success of online media coverage for Hawaii’s import automotive scene to the world. These sites slowly dissolved, bringing in the second generation of import websites, including my close affiliates at the time, aznlyfe.com (Khai Tran) and teamrice.org (Justin Saiki and Lance Akagi). Steven also decided to come back through nucleartiger.com which was also a part of our organization.

Through the span of 7-years, DOHCresearch shot over 40 official features from Hawaii’s elite car crews including Alpha Project, Eurotechnik, PimpLux VIP JDM Styling, Night Garage, Turbolence, Speed Aura, EFI Unlimited, 1320 Performance, Team PRO5, ENDLESSgarage, and Team Revision; and featured numerous events, which helped the website become nationally recognized in the import automotive community. DOHCresearch currently stands as an archive to retain past features and memories throughout the years and to document the most recent photography I have done since the website was declared “retired” in 2005.

Since the retirement of DR, I have worked on numerous projects with other companies and magazines to bring more exposure to Hawaii’s import automotive scene. As I begin a new chapter in my life, I will continue to bring limited coverage of automotive styling and culture in Japan.

Companies
Green-Bottle Productions
:: Freelance Photographer – Automotive Features

Revision Audio
:: Freelance Photographer – Automotive Features and Company Advertisements

Junction Produce (Japan)
:: Freelance Photographer – Automotive Features and Product Advertisements

Air Runner Systems (USA)
:: Freelance Photographer – Product Advertisements

Work Wheels (USA)
:: Freelance Photographer – Product Advertisements

Publications
Option2 Magazine (Japan)
:: November 2002, Drift Session Hawaii – Battle Version event coverage

VIPCAR Magazine (Japan)
:: February 2008, Junction Produce Advertisement (2 full-page spread)

VIP STYLE Magazine (Japan)
:: July 2010, Air Runner Systems Advertisement

Honda-Tuning Magazine
:: July 2010, Hellaflush Hawaii event coverage

Import Tuner Magazine
:: August 2010, Hellaflush Hawaii event coverage