No, it definitely wasn't a photo op

When George W. Bush abruptly canceled his plan to appear in San Antonio, Texas, just before Hurricane Rita was supposed to hit land, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said it was because search and rescue teams were on the move and the president didn't want to "slow that down." Another White House official had a different story, however, telling the New York Times that the sun was shining so brightly in San Antonio that images from a Bush visit there might not have made it obvious to TV viewers that the president was dealing with an approaching storm.