An Ontario man had a front row seat on the White House lawn when U.S. President Barack Obama teased Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about the Chicago Blackhawks' 2015 Stanley Cup win.
Taylor Jones, a photographer from Kitchener, Ont., captured the lighthearted exchange as part of a White House program that invites social media influencers to Washington, D.C.
Jones travelled to the U.S. capital to photograph Trudeau's visit last week, and now, he's sharing the images of what he calls an "absolutely surreal" experience.
A photo taken a moment after the president's hockey gibe shows Trudeau turning his face away, grinning. In the background, Canadian cabinet members join in the laughter.
The shot is one of approximately 700 photos Jones says he took that day.
"I was pretty much front row, right beside the podium," Jones told CTV's Canada AM on Monday. "I saw a lot of things that I never thought I would see with my own eyes."
Jones started his day bright and early and arrived at the White House for 6:45 a.m., he says on his website.
There, he joined 19 other photographers and social media stars who'd been selected to attend the event.
After going through security, Jones found his position at the side of the podium and started snapping photos.
Over the course of half an hour of speeches and poses, Jones took hundreds of shots.
His favourites, he said, are of the moment Obama teased Trudeau over hockey, and of Obama, Trudeau, and their wives, Michelle Obama and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, waving from the White House balcony.
Now back in Canada, Jones says he's sifting through the images and reliving his experience.
Eventually, he said, he hopes to display the photos as part of a photography show in his home town.
"I'm looking at curating here first and then we'll see what happens," he said.
In the meantime, some of the images are already available on the photographer's Twitter, Instagram and website.
