You never know who might end up in your photo at the DC Cherry Blossom Festival. It could be anyone, from a random stranger or even President Barack Obama!
That’s exactly what happened to Portia Moore and her family during their cherry blossom photo session at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. The mom of two was deep in mom mode, keeping an eye on her 20-month-old son, Preston, when her husband, Damien, spotted someone familiar in the background.
“My husband’s like, ‘That’s Obama!’” Moore told NBC Washington. “I didn’t know what he was saying. I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever. I’m looking at Preston right now.’”
It wasn’t until moments later that she realized just how right he was. As she scooped up their 20-month-old son, she turned to Damien for clarity.
“‘What did you just say?’” she asked.
“That’s Obama!” he repeated.
Her immediate response? “Well, did we get a picture?!”
A quick check with their photographer, Briana Inell, confirmed it: Obama, in all his casually cool, baseball cap-wearing glory, had strolled right through their frame, leaving them with an iconic family snapshot.
For Inell, a seasoned photographer accustomed to editing tourists out of her clients’ shots, this was one moment she had no intention of erasing.
“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.
Though the family did not bother the former President at the time, they did catch Obama’s attention. Loving the moment just as much as the Moore family, Obama later spotted the image on Instagram and couldn’t help but chime in.
“Preston and Belle, I hope you enjoyed peak bloom! My bad for stepping into the shot,” he wrote on his Instagram story, later posting his own scenic shots from the Tidal Basin.
Jokingly inviting Obama to join the family for their photoshoot next year, Moore says “the picture is a family heirloom” and plans to use the photo in their Christmas card. And just like that, a regular family outing turned into an unforgettable moment—an elite-level photobomb, a legendary flex, and a story that’ll be retold for generations
