On this date, Thursday, April 7, 2005, the oldest three sons, Joshua, Matthew, Jose, and I were in Washington, DC for Speing break. Our Spring break trips were the boys’ corporate Christmas gift.

Instead of standing in a four-hour line for the White House interior tour, we opted for the White House Garden tour. We were allowed to explore the southern grounds and got to see the Carter grandchildren’s playground, the swimming pool, tennis court, Oval Office exterior, the historic trees, and other wonderful sites.

Perhaps the best part for me was getting to see the South portico up close. On that particular day, one of my favorite concert bands, The Marine Band, was playing a concert on the South portico. An additional perk was their piece, “Selections from RAGTIME,” one of my personal favorite concert band medleys.

I snapped this photograph of several gathered musicians, and upon our return home, I posted it on My Space.

During the summer of 2005, I received several requests from folks who had seen this photograph, requesting to post it on their own account and agreeing to credit me as the photographer. It actually ended up in five different Washington DC travel publications. In all, I received a total of $1600 for this photograph.

It still remains one of my favorites.