Shelly Au has worked for an overseas nonprofit Organization for 20 years. He has spent 17 of those years living in various parts of Asia. In 2013, Shelly returned back to America and while in New York, he received the Paula Rhodes Honors Award when he finished his "Masters of Professional Studies” degree in Digital Photography at the School of Visual Arts under the chair of 2005 Photoshop Hall of Fame inductee Katrin Eismann.

Shelly was also awarded as a finalist for the Adobe Design Achievement Award in the photography category in New York and labelled a "Powerful Visual Story Teller" by the Judges.

He now lives in Denver, Colorado where he is a Headshot & Visual Brand Photographer and shoots for Denver Real Producer Magazine, Advance Your REACH Workshops, and Courtesy Acura. Shelly is also an Instructor and teaches Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, and Story-Telling at Mike's Camera. He offers private consults and belongs to Professional Photographers of America.