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Snorkeling With President Obama: How Our Photographer Got the Shot (Exclusive) | National Geographic

2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

I've never photographed a president before. This was my first experience, you know, being sort of in the presence of Air Force One and all the security and Secret Service. The day that the president arrived was a perfect day—sunny, clear. I didn't expect or know that I would have one-on-one time with the president.

After I photographed the interviews, somebody else from the White House came over and put their hand on my shoulder and said, "We've made room for you on the boat." So, I had, I think they said, 6 minutes to get my stuff together. Being underwater with President Obama was, for me, a surreal experience. I was very nervous, but then I realized that all of my pictures were sort of just this side profile, and it was lovely.

The corals were pretty, and he was very, sort of elegantly moving just below the surface, but I wanted to see his face. A year ago, I had a cover story for National Geographic about dolphins. In many ways, photographing President Obama, for me, was a similar experience. You know, the subject was very different, of course, but I made a decision not to use flashes, not to use strobes.

I sort of positioned myself in front of him as he was sort of swimming toward me and just made a series of images as he was swimming past. Those magic moments come down to just a handful of times, and then, you know, I was back on shore with my Surface cameras watching him climb the stairs and Air Force One depart. So, it was all very quick, and it took me a while to sort of process it and remind myself that it really was true that it happened.

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