Source – Flickr
President Barack Obama shoots clay targets on the range at Camp David, Md., Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
This official White House photograph is being made available only for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photograph. The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.
hahaha “the photograph my not be manipulated in any way”… so naturally it got the shit manipulated out of it.
There are currently 143 photoshops in the gallery over at Know Your Meme, make sure to take a look.
It really wouldn’t surprise me if Obama skeet shoots “all the time” as he said. He’ll never be disarmed or without armed security like the rest of us peons, so as an elitist why wouldn’t he dabble in the hobby if he enjoys it? If you remember in the past he also admitted to shooting with the Secret Service, which I thought was quite interesting.
I forgot he is left handed. Interesting that he wears his watch on his left hand as well… I always assumed it would be annoying to wear a watch on the same hand as you write with.
Thoughts? Anyone calling bullshit on the fact this photo was allegedly taken August 4th? I tried to do some CSI “ENHANCE…. ENHANCE” type stuff on the full resolution picture to see if I could catch a date on his watch, but no luck.. just pixels.
Hat tip: Dave, Carl
Comments
30 responses to “Obama Skeet Shooting Photo”
I had a look at the EXIF data in a hex editor. Couldn’t find any inconsistencies though.
I even checked on the model of camera (Canon EOS 5D Mark III) and the firmware (1.1.2 from memory), to see if the firmware was available at the time the photo is said to have been taken… it was available at that time.
EXIF data is very easy to manipulate though. You can edit it with tools or a hex editor and put anything you want in there.
I also tried enhancing the watch face as well, but it’s too washed out to be readable – the motion blur doesn’t help either.
To the best of my ability, the photo itself is consistent with an original unmanipulated image. (The shotgun and trigger hand has diagonal blur, consistent with recoil induced motion).
There was one bit that I couldn’t quite understand – that was a white/bright reflection with a square edge in his shooting glasses (which appear to be ESS). The shotgun was visible in the reflection, then below and in-between Obama and the photogeapher (but out of camera frame) is the bright area… I figured it could be a silver light reflector, used by photographers… which would indicate the photo was not a “spur of the moment” thing at all, but was specifically setup to take that image.
That’s thorough! Too bad you didn’t find anything fishy. :/
Could that be the “ESS” symbol on ESS eyepro?
Here’s a news report form Reuters on Obama’s Birthday on August 4th. No mention of skeet shooting.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/04/us-usa-obama-birthday-idUSBRE8730F820120804
In all fairness, I’m sure he ate and went to the bathroom a few times and the article didn’t mention that either. ;)
President Obama says that he goes skeet shooting “all the time” and the White House releases this photo at the same time as a strong anti-2nd amendment campaign.
It’s essentially the same play as saying “I’m not racist… I have a black friend.”
hahah nice
I internet White The Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Unit all Sumner. You would not believe how often detectives came to us asking if we could “enhance” EVERYTHING!
That’s awesome. You should have just blew their mind once and given them some “enhanced” image which was actually just a super high resolution image off the internet just to temporarily mess with them.
Is it normal for the WH to add a “do not alter” statement to the photo’s they release?
EXIF checks out, his stance isn’t great but I’ve seen worse, shotgun only having a protruding choke in one barrel is sort of odd but not unheard of depending on the pair. He usually doesn’t wear a watch or handwrite much so he probably didn’t put a whole lot of thought into which arm to put it on.
My big issue with this picture is how badly his jeans fit, you’d think as the president he could do better than relaxed fit department store garbage that looks a size or two too big in the waist.
haha yea my feeling is I’d like to see a president in 2016 who at least wears raw denim, tailored button-ups, and classy hardbottoms most of the time.
They’re mom jeans, circa 1990. This may not be a photoshop, but it certainly is a photo op.
Whats wrong with comfortable pants? Personally I hate wearing tight clothes since they are a “perfect fit”.
It’s not a thing for like most people going to the grocery store or whatever but as a public figure his image is basically everything and he could be doing a little better. Plus well-fitted jeans are probably more comfy than the arrangement he’s got there with his belt carrying all the weight.
Reuters reported that Obama spent that day golfing, and relaxing in the mountains, yet made no mention of skeet shooting…
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/04/us-usa-obama-birthday-idUSBRE8730F820120804
Skeet shooting (or maybe just double barreled shotguns) should be banned; it exists only to provide anti-gun politicians a photo op so they pretend they are not anti-gun. Besides that, double barreled shotguns serve no revolutionary purpose.
Agreed. Joe Biden told us that double barreled shotguns are actually more dangerous than “assault rifles” so it must be true.
That’s why the Secret Service carries them.
…wait, they don’t?
double barreled shotguns are awesome! Their most impressive effect is getting all the basement dwellers at larfcom, i mean arfcom fired up.
barfcom good sir, barfcom.
i am a definite tacticool HSLD operator magpul toting 18-26 year old COD Nerd who is in the gun industry indirectly. before a month ago i had never shot a shotgun at anything other than some steel plates or paper or random trash at a buddies land. i did skeet shooting (sporting clays? there was a thrower and we threw one at a time, sometimes two) and fell in love. i have a pump 12 gauge my stepdad traded with me for an electric beard trimmer (probably the only time hair care products have ever bought a firearm) that i use, but my roomie has an over/under browning citori. that gun is awesome.
skeet and trap has its place (ammo is the same cost as 9mm but you can fire 50rds of skeet and call it a day but 50rds of 9mm today was us just getting started.)
barfcom, how did i miss that? lol
I’m a lefty who wears his watch on his left hand.
But Obama also writes with that retard “crabclaw” style of lefty writing.
Ok, on a whim I google mapped the Camp David Trap/Skeet Range. There is no way that Mr. Shooty Pants is on the Skeet line or the Trap line. Go see for yourselves. To the best of my guess he is somewhere forward of the right Sheet tower, somewhere on line with the trap house.
Looks to me like he might be on Station 6 with the corner low house roof visible behind him, and could be firing late at a bird from the low house.
Or it could just be a staged photo with no target but what difference does it make in the grand scheme of things?
He is easily forward of all stations. And in the scheme of things its fun to poke holes in Jack Wagons and his evil minions story.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!!!????
I’m a lefty. Although I rarely wear a watch, when I do, it’s on my left arm.
Also… when I go skeet shooting, I’m usually shooting up in the air; not almost parallel with the ground.
He’s not shooting clays; he’s executing US citizens whom he suspects of being threats.
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/05/16855539-judge-jury-and-executioner-legal-experts-fear-implications-of-white-house-drone-memo?lite
Didn’t you guys see him bowling? He’s probably shooting the clay birds after they hit the ground which explains the low barrel angle. He must have extraordinary vision to see thru those dark glasses in that environment, I forgot he’s the Messiah so sure. He’s also using some kind of Ninja like ability to be looking thru the back of the receiver with that head position, maybe he’s looking right thru the bore. The mom jeans give so much support his body is rigid, no amount of puny shotgun recoil will disturb his look. He’s probably the best shot we’ve had in the WH since TR, Biden proudly proclaimed he has a “big stick”.