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Tomator, a tan pit bull in a bright bandana, grinning wide with his tongue out against a hot pink backdrop
A black dog and a white dog side by side on a white backdrop, both looking straight up with their mouths open for a falling treat
A black long-haired dog holding an orange tennis ball in her mouth, close up against a marigold backdrop
A tan and white dog sitting tall on a kelly green backdrop, head tipped back mid-bark with a toy at the edge of the frame
Cal and Sugar, a black dog and a cream dog, lying down together on a marigold backdrop looking at the camera

Pet Portraits · On Location & In Studio Your dog is
the main character.

Book Your Pet See how it works
On location from $400 Studio days in Frederick Not just dogs
Aaron kneeling on a wood floor between his two dogs: Cal, a black lab in a blue shark bandana, and Sugar, a white dog in a pink bandana, both lying down and smiling
Cal, Sugar, and their guy. Photo by Brad Barnwell.
Where this started

It started with a dog and a Samsung phone.

In 2015 I started taking pictures of my dog Cal on my phone. No plan. I just thought he was the best-looking guy I had ever seen and I wanted proof. The phone turned into a camera, the camera turned into other people's dogs, and at some point I looked up and had an entire career photographing weddings.

And at those weddings, guess who keeps showing up. The dog. Carrying the rings. Wearing a bow tie for eleven minutes. Getting photographed more than the cake, which somebody paid a lot of money for. People love their pets the way they love their people, and they want real pictures of them, not the blurry one from the couch.

So I quit pretending this was a side thing. Cal is an old man now. Sugar showed up later and runs the place. This page exists because of those two.

Three ways to do this

Outside, in studio,
or for your brand.

Same photographer, same amount of fussing over your dog. What changes is the room and the light.

A woman in a blue floral dress walking away through a wide green meadow with her dog on a leash, the low sun flaring through the treeline ahead
Outside, wherever suits them

On location

$400 Up to two pets, ten finished images

We meet somewhere with room to run and light worth having, and your dog gets to be a dog about the whole thing. Rumsey Park, Morgan Grove, anywhere along the C&O Canal, Baker Park in Frederick. If you have a spot of your own, tell me about it. Your back yard counts. Your living room counts.

  • My regulars: Rumsey Park, Morgan Grove, the C&O Canal, Baker Park
  • House calls, inside or in the yard, wherever you live
  • Anywhere new, I go look at it before we book
A small golden dog wearing green heart-shaped sunglasses, tongue out, sitting on a marigold backdrop
Aaron May Pet Portraits

Studio days

$600 Forty minutes, ten finished images

A few times a year I take over a studio for a day and shoot sessions back to back against seamless paper. You pick your backdrop color beforehand, which people deliberate over far more than I expected them to, and I love that about them. There are only so many slots and they go quickly once they are posted.

  • $600 for forty minutes and ten finished images
  • $950 for a full hour, twenty-five images, and a hardcover book
  • $100 for each additional pet from the same house
Tomator lying stretched out on a hot pink backdrop with a small orange ball beside his paws
Brands, products and working dogs

Commercial and brand partnerships

Quoted Scoped to the campaign

Product shoots, campaigns, packaging, brand partnerships. What a day costs moves around depending on licensing, usage and crew, so these get quoted instead of listed. Tell me what you are making and where it needs to run and I will put a real number on it.

  • Studio or on location
  • Licensing and usage sorted up front
  • Shelters and rescues, keep reading
How it works

Five steps. One of them is the fun part.

  1. Tell me about your pet

    The form at the bottom of this page. Two minutes, and the weird details help.

  2. We make a plan

    The spot, the backdrop color, the treats, the escape routes. I do the worrying.

  3. The session

    Forty minutes to an hour of your pet being taken extremely seriously.

  4. Pick your favorites

    You see every frame, watermarked, and choose the ones you love.

  5. Gallery in two weeks

    Your picks come back fully finished. Extras are $35 each, or $200 for the whole edited gallery.

On location

Open sky, long light,
and room to be a dog.

I keep a short list of outdoor spots that have never let me down: Rumsey Park and Morgan Grove in Shepherdstown, Baker Park in Frederick, and anywhere along the C&O Canal. Downtown Frederick and Catoctin Creek come up a lot too, and the answer is yes. If you have a spot of your own, even better, tell me about it and I will drive out and look at it first. I am checking two things: that dogs are actually welcome, and that it is not wall-to-wall people right when the light gets good. Your yard passes both tests automatically.

A tan and white dog sitting in tall grass and reaching up to take a treat from her owner, who is wearing a blue floral dress
A dog standing alone in silhouette on a grass ridge beneath an enormous cloudy sky at dusk
A tan and white dog in a bandana walking through knee-high grass with her tail up, her owner just behind her
A dog sitting in profile against a bright sunset, rimmed in gold light with clouds behind
A tan and white dog trotting through a sunlit green field on a long leash, tail curled over her back
A dog trotting through shallow water at sunset, reflected in the surface, backlit against the sky
A woman in a blue floral dress walking away through a wide green meadow with her dog on a leash, the low sun flaring through the treeline ahead
A dog in silhouette on a ridgeline with a wide bank of evening cloud filling the frame above
A close portrait of a tan and white dog in profile, mouth open and happy, with green field behind her
A dog sitting on a rise with the low sun flaring behind and clouds stacked across the sky
A woman sitting down in a green meadow with her dog lying in the grass beside her, both relaxed
A backlit dog sitting in tall grass with the setting sun breaking into soft circles of light
Aaron May Pet Portraits

Studio days are announced ahead of time.

A few times a year I take over Lockhouse Studios at 103 S Carroll St, Suite 1D in Frederick, MD and photograph dogs all day. Back to back. It is the best day on my calendar and I will not be taking questions about that. You pick your backdrop color before you come in.

The last two ran in April 2024 and January 2025, and most of the dogs on this page walked out of them with a gallery.

Nothing is on the calendar right now. Put your name down and you will hear about the next date before anyone else does.

Kind words

What the humans say.

A real quote from a real client is going to live right here. Aaron is out collecting them the way Sugar collects tennis balls.

A very good dog's person

This spot is reserved for somebody telling you their dog had the best afternoon of his life. It is coming.

Another very good dog's person

And this one is for the person who cried a little when they opened the gallery. There is always one. It might be you.

Probably you, soon
Shelters and rescues

If you are a shelter, come talk to me.

A good photograph gets a dog out of a kennel and onto somebody's couch faster than almost anything else, and that is the best thing a camera can do. If you run a shelter or a rescue anywhere near me, use the form below and say so. We will work something out.

Before you ask

The usual questions.

Do you only photograph dogs?

No. Dogs are most of what walks through the door, but cats, rabbits, horses, birds, reptiles and whoever else lives at your house are welcome. Some do better at home than in a studio and I will tell you honestly which one I think yours is. Cats have opinions about seamless paper.

My dog is reactive, or nervous, or ignores me completely.

That is most dogs. Tell me on the form and I will build the session around it: a quieter spot, a longer slot, nobody else on the schedule near you, or your own house instead of somewhere unfamiliar. Nobody is getting forced into a sit-stay for a picture.

Can I be in the photos?

Please. Some of my favorite frames are somebody holding a leash and laughing at something off camera. Bring whoever your dog would want there.

Can we shoot at my house?

Yes, inside or in the yard. For an older dog or an anxious one it is usually the easiest thing by a mile, because nothing about the room is new to them. Anywhere new that is not your own property I go look at first: whether dogs are genuinely allowed, and whether the place turns into a parking lot at the hour the light is good.

How do studio days work?

I book a studio for a day and run sessions back to back, so the slots are fixed and there are not many of them. Dates get announced ahead of time. You choose your backdrop color beforehand and I send over a short questionnaire so I know something about your pet before they walk in.

What if the weather turns on us?

I watch the forecast like it owes me money. If it is looking nasty around your session I will reach out ahead of time and we will talk rain dates. Nobody is standing in a downpour holding a soggy dog for the sake of a calendar.

What do I get afterwards, and when?

You see every frame from the session, unedited and watermarked, and you pick your favorites. Those come back fully finished within two weeks, at the count included in your session. Want more? Extra images are $35 each, or $200 takes the whole edited gallery once I cull the duplicates and the blinks. Prints and albums exist if you want them, and I will not chase you about it once.

Do you do gift certificates?

Yes, and a pet session is a genuinely great gift for the person who has photos of everyone in the family except the one with the tail. For now, request one through the form on this page and I will sort it out with you directly. Buying them straight from the site is coming.

Book a session

Tell me about your pet.

This comes straight to me, and the more you tell me the better I show up. Nervous, weird, obsessed with one specific tennis ball: I want to know all of it. Nothing here will ask about a venue or a fiancé. Wrong form for that.

Gift certificates go through this form too. Pick "Gift certificate" below and tell me who the lucky pet is.