Lulu and Ricky (or "Lucky" if you were to refer to them by their couple name!) are two of the most successful, yet humble people I have ever had the privilege to photograph! These two met in August of 2011, both as new Economics PhD students at the University of Pittsburgh. Considering Lulu is from a small town in China, and Ricky from Cleveland, their meeting was meant to be (or shall I say - very Lucky! ;) )! After getting to know each other through studying together, in the spring of 2012, Lulu and Ricky officially started dating. Now, they both teach classes at the Pitt and have offices that reside directly beside each other!
There are a few things that stand out to me about this sweet couple, the first of which is their favorite date. To get an idea of who a couple is to photograph them in the most accurate way possible, I sometimes like to email a few questions before our session together. One of my favorite questions to ask is: "What was the BEST date you ever had together?" To which Lulu responded: "There is no one BEST one, but rather a bunch of them. If climbing the Great Wall can be considered as a date, it's definitely one of the great ones." I mean, how cool is that?!
One more thing that stood out about Lulu and Ricky is their love for each other. Another question I love to ask is: "If you could sum up your relationship in three words, what would they be?" To which Lulu replied "Happy, diverse, intellectual. Ricky's answer is 'I love Lulu.'" I mean, seriously?! How sweet is that?
When it comes to photographing these two, they were absolutely amazing and caught on to the whole process so fast! We started off at the Frick Fountain in front of the Henry Clay Frick Fine Arts Building and then worked our way around to the Cathedral of Learning and finished our session at the Mellon Institute with these two in their PhD caps and gowns. Lulu's mom was even in from China and makes a little guest appearance in one of the last frames of this blog post - she was the sweetest!
I'm so thankful to have meet you two, Lulu and Ricky! Congratulations again on your engagement - we pray all the best for you two!
