Welcome to Our House

The 'Need to Know'

We’re excited you stopped by. And you should also know that you’re in for the best double date experience you’ve ever had if you decide to hang with us on wedding day. 

It all started in the beautiful state of Colorado (aka The Motherland) where we met at University. Ironically, we were SET on graduating school without a significant other, but alas, God had other plans. Instead, we got married, moved to the Virgin Islands, and were instantly thrown into the hardships of marriage, learning a new place, and adapting to what it meant to have a true partner in this life.

It was here we also learned basic survival skills– you know, how to survive multiple category 5 hurricanes, power outages, and a corrupt government. Normal, everyday stuff. Thus came our move to…Nevada, USA? Because Collin had heard about a really nice lake. It was obviously the most logical next step. 

Here’s where photography comes in. It’s not something I like to harp on, but I struggled majorly with autoimmune-related health issues and processing the passing of my brother for the better part of my life, and it was on a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon where photography took hold. Grief is a funny thing, but it’s also transformative. It was here I knew that I would
spend my life bringing people outside, ensuring that they had timeless imagery to stand as an anchor in their lives. Collin eventually started to assist me on various photoshoots where he then picked up a camera himself and became a master of film photography in his own right. When you combine a feral-art-and-spicy-chai-obsessed Shelby with down-to-earth-technically-skilled Collin, you get an experience that’s both freeing and guided. Other-worldly and real. Passionate and safe. Thus The Holtes was born. 

It was persisting through this rocky start–the newness of everything, where we lived, being freshly married, adapting to both personal and outside stimuli simply out of our control–that forged our marriage and partnership. If you asked us what our greatest success was thus far, the answer is easy:

                               Our Marriage.

It’s the best thing we’ve ever done, and the thing most worth protecting. And, our greatest ambition is to believe in the people we’re photographing–to eulogize them in the image of God in a way that is purposeful and celebratory. He creates the story. We just make art out of it.