During our daily lives, most of us make sure we set aside time to do our work, take care of our families, support our friends, maintain our homes, and the like.
Are we, though, also making room for moments of blissful happiness?
Cleveland-based photographer Greg Murray is doing his part to make sure we do. Since 2009, he’s been taking hilarious, adorable photos of dogs and cats, and he has a particularly amazing technique for getting these animals to both sit still and make the silliest faces.
There is nothing more amazing than watching an animal being wonderfully weird. Whether it’s a polar bear playing with a bouncy ball or a dog smacking its tongue this way and that, videos and images like these can brighten even the darkest of days.
Scroll through below to learn more about why Murray embarked on this incredible photo series and how he gets these animals to make the craziest of faces.
[H/T: Daily Mail]
Photographer Greg Murray is about to seriously make your day.
Since 2009, Murray has been capturing amazing photos of dogs running their tongues wild whilst trying to eat dollops of peanut butter.
Why has Murray been spending so much time photographing dogs consumed with consuming peanut butter?
This journey actually started while he was trying to snap a photo of his own dog, Bailey.
Murray told LittleThings, "My goal with this series is to make people laugh and be happy. That's my first job as a photographer."
"The photo of Bailey [above], our rescue mastiff who passed a few years back, was my first peanut butter photo and inspiration for this series, which I started in February."
Murray initially gave Bailey peanut butter simply to lure him into sitting still for a photo. The level of tongue flailing the peanut butter influenced was a beautiful surprise.
So, out of pure necessity to tempt his own pup into posing for a few quick stills, Murray stumbled upon this wonderful way to catch dogs at their goofiest.
What started as a hobby has since become a full-time gig. Murray now shoots pet portraits all day long out of his Ohio-based studio.
So far, Murray has photographed 50 different dogs for his For the Love of Peanut Butter series.
This summer/fall, he plans to release the series in book form, and is hoping to capture around 30 more by the time his series wraps.
Is feeding peanut butter to dogs a safe thing to do? It is! Although, like anything you give your dog, or yourself for that matter, you’d only want to feed your pet peanut butter in moderation.
You’ll also want to check your peanut butter’s ingredient label before you let those tongues start doing their thing.
Never feed your dog peanut butter containing xylitol, as that chemical is not safe for these animals’ health.
For most of us, life is full of positive and negative moments, and for one reason or another, those negative ones tend to grab more of our daily attention.
Murray told the Daily Mail: “As a photographer, my number one job isn't to take photos. It's to make people happy. It just so happens I do that by taking photos.
"The photos I take of dogs eating peanut butter make people laugh. It makes me feel so good inside to provide a source of laughter and happiness to others.
"That's why I'm doing this series and coming out with the book. I want to make people around the world laugh.”
With these photos, he is certainly off to a hilarious start! Though Murray is hoping a publisher will pick up his series, until that happens, he has embarked down the self-publishing route.
Murray reached out to potential backers via Kickstarter to help fund his book, and he has already raised double his target goal.
It’s no surprise that Murray takes such a valued approach to his work as a photographer.
Before he started spending every day focused on snapping animal portraits, his work centered on handling employee relations as a human resources professional.
In many ways, the work he’s now doing as a pet photographer still feels deeply influenced by that previous human resources work.
His photographs are tangible gifts anyone can view, at any time, to instantly lift their spirits.
What started as a means to an end has turned into a glorious series of hilarious, tongue-smacking moments, sure to put a smile on everyone’s face.
What do you think of Murray’s photos? Does your dog make faces like these? Let us know in the comments.
Please SHARE these amazingly hilarious images with anyone who could use a pick-me-up!
