Meet AJ Rezac | Travel Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with AJ Rezac and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi AJ, how do you think about risk?
In my eyes, risk taking is one of the most important things in life. If you never take risks, you will never leap forward and achieve your dreams. If you want it, go for it! If you always play it safe you will get to the end of the road with regret. Taking smart and calculated risks that seem scary at the time, are always ALWAYS worth it on your path of life.

When I was 13 years old, my family and I sold nearly everything we owned and flew to Hawaii with no jobs, no school, and not even a town to settle in. Just my parents, two kids, two dogs, our suitcases, and a place to stay for two weeks. If that’s not a risk then I have no idea what is! It was a crazy difficult and wild time, but looking back on it, it brought so many things into our lives that I don’t know would ever be there if not for that one decision. Now, I am not saying to take this huge of a leap just for the sake of it, because of course it took a while to get to where we are now. But I am saying that we became much closer as a family, we proved to ourselves that we could do anything, and I through our move I discovered my passion for photography.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I started out my photography journey by taking snapshots on my iPhone 4 way back in 8th grade when we moved from Minnesota to Hawaii. I wanted to simply take some pictures of the scenery to send back to my friends in Minnesota, teasing that it was 80 degrees and sunny on Maui when it was 20 below and snowing back in Farmington. By doing this, I quickly discovered that I was falling in love with photography at a rapid pace. I then started using and messing around with the family camera, a Canon T3i, if I remember right. I watched loads of Youtube videos and tutorials, fully immersing myself learning everything I could about settings, composition, you name it. I would shoot every single day. Looking back on the photos from this time, I can honestly say they were truly awful compared to now, but that is how everyone starts! I was just excited to find a hobby and learn something new, and have fun doing it. After about a year or two, I then had saved up enough money to buy my first camera, the Canon 7D Mark II. I was so happy and proud of myself for saving up enough to buy something of my own!

With more experience, comes a more trained eye, style and feel for your photography. Practice truly is understated! The more you shoot, the better you get. That’s why I shot every single day for years. Shooting everything I could, weddings, portraits, high school basketball team photos, shooting for the school yearbook, anything I could get my hands on, and always for free in the beginning. I knew that I would get better each day, and that it would get me to where I wanted to be, my dream of a full time travel photographer.

By the time junior year came around, my mom had scrolled past an ad for a photography workshop put on by National Geographic. At the time, as a young aspiring photographer, working for National Geographic was a dream. Those were the big dogs in my eyes. Something inside me knew that I had to apply for this workshop. The opportunity to get to learn from and work alongside some of the greatest photographers in the world happens very rare. So I applied for the program and was accepted to attend their workshop in Prague, Czech Republic for 10 days, and learn from National Geographic Photographers themselves. I was overwhelmed with excitement and couldn’t wait, especially since it was my first international trip ever! I learned so much about not only the technical side, but about the business side of photography as well. All in all, it was an amazing experience that will last a lifetime. However, it was a very expensive trip. To attend one of the top student photography workshops is definitely not cheap, especially to a 16 year old kid whose parents were living paycheck to paycheck. I had fundraised most of the trip myself, by selling my work, doing photoshoots, organizing fundraisers, raffles, you name it.

A year later after the trip was my Senior year, which was the last year of eligibility for the Nat Geo program. I knew that I would not be able to attend the workshop again this year, simply because it was too expensive and I wouldn’t be able to raise the money again. So I applied for a scholarship for the workshop, and to my amazement, I was one of twenty students in the world that received a full ride to attend another National Geographic workshop, this time, in Switzerland and France. My parents and I immediately broke down in tears, so happy and grateful for another opportunity to learn from the best and launch myself even closer to my dream. Let me tell you, I truly believe that I learned more in those two weeks traveling through the Swiss Alps than I would have in four years sitting in a college lecture hall, that is a fact.

After high school I decided to go full pursuit for my dream, and chose not to take the college route. Instead, I would work two jobs, saving up and putting any extra cash and coins in my travel jar on the dresser in my room. Work, save, travel and repeat.

That was my motto. After about 2 years of clocking in and putting my head down working my regular jobs, (all while shooting anytime I could and doing small photoshoots on the side of course), I got the idea of buying a van and road tripping across the country. And that is when it all kicked off.

After all of my working and saving up, I sold my car, bought a one way ticket, and went to pick up my “new” 1985 Ford Campervan in pursuit of my dream. Looking back, it is so crazy how everything has fallen in place. I can’t believe that everything has worked out perfectly, even though it may not seem like it in the moment, but one thing I can say is that I truly trusted my gut at every turn.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My girlfriend Kayla and I just moved to Colorado a few months ago, and are absolutely loving it! It is much different than Maui where we grew up, but we are all in on the city, the mountains, the people, everything. That is actually why we chose the Denver Area to call our new home. You can’t beat the vibe here, it really is something special.

As far as places to go and things to see, the two big things we love doing are going up and exploring the mountains, and going to sports games downtown. After moving from Minnesota to Maui, the number one thing I missed was going to sporting events because Hawaii doesn’t have any professional sports teams. So we love to get out and go to the Nuggets, Rockies, Avs, and Broncos games! But my number one, (of course being a travel/nature photographer), is going up to the Mountains every chance we can. I’m sure once we are here for a bit longer, we will have more experiences of different places to eat, drink, and etc, but we would love to get some recommendations being that we are “newbies”!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I would like to shoutout my parents for all of their amazing love and support over my entire life. They have always been behind my back and right there with me for my entire journey, and I would never in a million years be where I am today without them. Love you Mom and Dad 🙂

Website: www.thewandertravels.com

Instagram: @thewandertravels – www.instagram.com/thewandertravels

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aj-rezac-8aa497238/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewandertravels

Image Credits
@CarmenHuter in the Iceland Waterfall and Ice Cave photos