Picture this: You’re out with your family, capturing picture-perfect moments under D.C.’s iconic cherry blossoms, and then—boom!—former president Barack Obama casually photobombs your shot. That’s exactly what happened to Portia Moore and her family during their morning photo session at the Tidal Basin.
“It was perfect,” Moore said. Her daughter, Belle and 20-month-old son, Preston, were standing under a cherry tree as family photographer Briana Inell snapped away. Like any mom, she was focused on keeping her little one safe.
“Of course, I’m paying attention to my son, making sure he doesn’t run into the water. He’s 20 months old,” told NBC4 Washington.
Meanwhile, her husband spotted something—or rather, someone—in the background.
“My husband’s like, ‘That’s Obama!’ I didn’t know what he was saying. I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever. I’m looking at Preston right now,’” Moore recalled.
It wasn’t until she picked up her son that she realized what he was actually saying.
“I was like, ‘Well, did we get a picture?!’ We went to the photographer and she scrolled back and were like, ‘We got it!’”
And there he was—President Barack Obama, casually strolling along the Tidal Basin in a baseball cap, unknowingly making a cameo in Belle and Preston’s family photos.
For Inell, the photographer, this was a moment she won’t forget.
“Usually, I’m editing all of the tourists out of the backgrounds for all my clients anyways, but this is the one photo that I won’t be editing out this person,” she said.
Moore said if she could go back and tell Obama something, she would have this message: “Come for next year’s shoot. Same place, same time, same date. We’ll be here.”
Obama later saw the photo on Instagram and commented, saying, “Preston and Belle, I hope you enjoyed peak bloom!My bad for stepping into the shot.”
He also shared his own peak bloom photos from the Tidal Basin.
