Obama's family vacation

It was only a matter of time before photos surfaced of the president-elect on his much deserved family vacation in Hawaii. And now they're everywhere on the Internet.

There was a picture of the president-elect shirtless. The snapshots of Malia and Sasha frolicking around in the sun. And the photo of Michelle lounging around.

All of these pictures left us with some questions. How did the photographer manage to get the pictures? Is this an invasion of privacy? And just as importantly, how does the soon-to-be leader of the free world manage to stay in such great shape?

"His buff chest and toned tum belie his 47 years and show he's got more in common with George Clooney than George Bush," wrote Derek Brown of The Sun, which also published a slideshow of past leaders who went shirtless. Obama himself looks to be in better shape now than he did when the last shirtless photos of him were published in the press.

So how did the photographer do it? He was less than 200 feet from the Obamas, Frank Griffin, co-owner of Bauer-Griffin, told The Washington Post.  The California-based paparazzi agency owner said the Secret Service agents guarding the property did not ask the photographer to leave the beach.

"The guy just walked along there. He had a camera in his hand. He wasn't hiding behind the bushes. He took some pictures. Everybody saw him. And then he walked off," Griffin told the Post. "It was as simple as that."