I decided to expand my trip to the NPPA’s Northern Short Course a bit, heading up a day early to see a friend of mine who works in D.C. Unfortunately, she had to work the night I arrived … at the White House. So she arranged for me to go to … the White House. And photograph the president returning from a trip to (of all places) Atlanta.

You cannot imagine how thrilled I was. I’ll admit to being a presidential geek and I do, dearly, miss covering politics and government. It was one of my favorite things to do as a working photojournalist. So the opportunity to see the White House Briefing Room and make an image on the South Lawn – even if it was at night, in a driving rain – well, that’s a spring break trip that will be hard to beat …

More photos after the jump.