The photography blog of Carissa Uribe, an international wedding photographer based out of Park City, Utah and Conroe, Texas.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

A mere 5 days ago I didn’t know that St. Patrick’s Day was this week. I’ll be honest, I didn’t even realize it was this month. I thought it was in May or something. Kind of embarrassing. Why, am I so clueless, you ask? I BLAME IT ON SCHOOL.

No. Seriously. Because at school they give you an agenda that has all the important dates and holidays marked. When you’re in elementary school they decorate the classrooms and have parties and the teachers leave signs of a visit from leprechauns (usually in the form of green glitter). When you’re in college they decorate the student center and serve special green drinks at the school coffee shop (at least, they did at my school.) And no matter what age you are, ALL THE STUDENTS WEAR GREEN. School becomes a huge, winding, and seemingly never-ending sea of green. If you do happen to be the poor soul that forgot to wear green, you’ll have bruises the next day to pay for it. No, I never forgot it was St. Patrick’s Day in school.

Now, however, I have no agenda to write my assignments in and remind me of holidays. I don’t have a class party, complete with green glitter, to attend. Or a green drink to enjoy from McConn. And I won’t have the repercussion of a million pinches if I don’t wear green. (That last one is iffy. You never know when a stranger might be in the holiday spirit. I think I’ll wear green to be safe.) The only reason I figured it out this year is because my cousin ordered a giant 4 leaf clover cookie at lunch after church last Sunday. Like an idiot I was all Why do they have four leaf clover cookies?? It’s not like it’s St. Patrick’s Day! After blinking a few times, she died laughing and informed that St. Patrick’s Day is indeed this week… Embarrassing.

Fortunately, Frisky will be prepared! I spied a green dog sweater for sale the other day, and decided to snatch it. So he’s safe from pinches. (He also claims that green is his color, but that’s beside the point.) Unfortunately, though, I underestimated his, um, size, if you will. Maybe it’s time for me to admit that Frisky is not as skinny as he used to be. He’s a tid bit pudgy…

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! : )

Better Than a Letterman

It was big, black, and soft. And it smelled like him. That was the best part.

Jake played soccer in high school, and he had this sweatshirt. It said Park City High School Soccer on the front. On the back it said URIBE in bright red letters. I still remember the first time he let me wear it. We were hanging out at his house one evening, watching TV and finishing up some cake his mom had made. My curfew was approaching, and he was getting ready to take me home. But it was cold out. Or maybe I was just cold. (I have a tendency to be cold more often than not.) Either way, I was dreading the sprint from the front door to the car.

Jake told me he’d be right back, and he disappeared down the stairs. When he reappeared, he was holding that sweatshirt. Yeah, the one with his NAME on it. My 11th grade heart swooned. I slept in it that night.

I proudly wore it to every one of his games, rain or shine. I’m pretty sure I kept it until school was out and summer began. Maybe even after. It was like wearing his letterman jacket, but better. (It was way comfier. And really, who wore their lettermans anymore anyway?)

When the fall of my first year of college rolled around, I gently folded it up and packed it in my suitcase. After I was all moved into my room and my mom had flown back to Utah, I pulled out the sweatshirt, hugged it to my chest and cried.

The other day I wore it while I was cleaning the house. Music blaring, sleeves pulled up, and, dare I admit, hips shaking while I swept the kitchen floor. When I took it off after bit so that I wouldn’t overheat (I mean, let’s be real, cleaning and dancing is hard work!), I paused. Looking at it draped over the chair, I couldn’t help but smile at it. That still soft, still big, but now faded and slightly tattered sweatshirt that holds so many memories. And that has so many memories yet to be made.

I still love wearing it.

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Adam - March 17, 2011 - 8:40 am

That is a great story. When we were dating, Carin used to (and still does) steal my shirts to keep when I went away. Must be a girl thing…

Carissa - March 18, 2011 - 6:38 pm

I’m going to have to agree with you on that one : )

Lauren - March 21, 2011 - 1:40 pm

Aww, I still wear Joey’s PCHS basketball sweatshirt that I have had since our Junior year, too! This brought back many memories – especially going to school out of state and having that sweatshirt (which I doused in Joey’s cologne) to take with me. So cute!

Carissa - March 22, 2011 - 6:43 am

Haha I sprayed mine with tons of Jake’s cologne too! Love it : )

Salt Lake City Temple Wedding Portraits: Noulifar + Mike

Question. What is the correct name for pictures of a bride and groom taken before their wedding day? Personally, I’m not sure there is one. Some people call them Groomals. Other people call them Formals. I’m going to be honest, I don’t really like either of those names. They both sound so… I don’t know, proper. Hoity toity if you will. Like they should be accompanied by a butler to pass out water and pat the sweat off everyone’s faces. Something along those lines.

So I’m just going to call them Wedding Portraits! This week I had the pleasure of 2nd shooting Wedding Portraits for Dustin Izatt at the Salt Lake Temple. After a week full of storms and snow, it ended up being a gorgeous day for pictures! A little windy, maybe, but gorgeous nonetheless. Noulifar could not have looked more stunning in her gown, and Mike was looking quite dapper himself!

Thank you, Dustin, for allowing me to shoot with you! Always an honor. And Mike and Noulifar, thank you for allowing me to tag along and document your love! You are truly beautiful together.

They had flown in from Minnesota the day before, but they could not have been happier to be getting married : )

Literally they could not contain their smiles. And it was beautiful.

Work it Noulifar!

Remember how I said it was windy? Yeah, the wind TOOK OVER her veil.

But we told them to roll with it. And trust me, they did ; )

Lurrve.

One word, Noulifar. Fabulous!

Seriously, how in love are they, and how cute is it?!

I’ll finish up with my favorite.

Congratulations you two!! So much love and happiness : )

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David Terry - March 11, 2011 - 2:44 pm

Lovely images. The big vertical one of them sitting on the steps with the wind blowing her veil … absolute favorite! Good work Carissa! :)

Jarvie - March 11, 2011 - 2:51 pm

Well my favorites are the first one and last one. :)
I know some of the others have great personality but these ones are great technically with plenty of personality.

Carissa - March 11, 2011 - 7:17 pm

Aw well thanks very much you two! : )

Music Monday

Jake claims that my taste in music could be classified as Twilight.

Yes, Twilight.

As in Edward and Bella and Jacob with his shirt off Twilight.

Call me crazy, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t mean it as a compliment. That’s fine. I’ll take it as one! I happen to love all of the soundtracks. New Moon especially. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to that CD on my road trips from Indiana to visit family in Chicago during my senior year of college. Fond memories. I actually kind of miss that. Just me, my cup of Starbucks, and the open road. It’s a good thing I was alone, too, considering I would blare the music and then (attempt to) sing along at the top of my lungs. Speaking of which, isn’t it amazing how you can sound so good when you’re singing with a CD, but the minute you turn it off and actually hear yourself….. yeah, you know what I’m talking about, right? Isn’t that frustrating?! Ugh.

Anyways.

I think you could classify my tastes as more Indie or Alternative. Jake, on the other hand, says my favorite music genre is Twilight. But this is also coming from a guy who says that Cosmic Love sounds AFRICAN. So I’m not too worried ; )

Today’s song is brought to you by Lykke Li, an incredibly talented Swedish singer, who also happens to sing one of my favorites on the New Moon soundtrack, Possibility. At first, I didn’t know what to think of Lykke’s voice. To say it’s unique is probably an understatement. But pretty soon I fell in love with it. The raw emotion? Gets me every time. Enjoy! (The official music video is an acoustic version, and it’s a little bit slower than the album version. I personally prefer the album version- hence this fan music video, but the acoustic version is beautiful as well, and it’s worth checking out here if you’d like!)

And this? This is what I see out the window of my computer desk. Beautiful, yes. However, I’ll be blunt. I! want! Spring!!

I’ve got Spring Fever bad… Anyone with me?

Happy Monday!

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seth - March 9, 2011 - 12:12 pm

I’m with you rissa! Bring on the Spring!

WPPI 2011 Recap

It’s actually been almost two weeks since WPPI ended for me. But I just got home on Sunday from Minnesota, and it’s amazing what being gone for a week and a half can do to your workload! I feel like I’ll be playing catch up for the next month. (This is probably a bit of an exaggeration. I guess I’m dramatic.)

BUT, I wanted to make a post about it, before I forget everything in the midst of all that I have to do. (You know, the stuff that will take me a month to catch up on.)

I don’t want to forget the open, honest, and heartfelt advice given at all the platform talks. I don’t want to forget fire it lit inside me. I don’t want to forget the inspiration. Not so much artistically, but more so about where I want my business go this year and how to get it there. Am I scared? Absolutely. I’m terrified of failing. But I’d rather try and fail and try again than not try at all. And I hope that when I look back at this post after next year’s WPPI, I can laugh at myself for being scared, and be proud of what I’ve accomplished.

Here’s just a snapshot of what went down this year! (Like a total noob I showed up super early to everything so I could get a good seat.)

[b]ecker talked about the ABC’s of success, and how important it is to have a brand that is true to who you are.

Jasmine Star talked about making your story truly your own, and not letting anyone else write it for you.

Motivational? I think yes. (J* did a short summarization that you can see here.)

And Kevin Kubota gave 12 tips on how to promote your business. I needed to hear them all.

I also had the opportunity to attend a talk by Nick of Spilled Milk Designs, put on by Showit. But there were only 20 people there and I didn’t want to be the creeper in the corner with a camera…. And of course the incredible morning that I had with Justin and Mary. I was able to chat with them one-on-one after the shoot and let’s just say I’m a better person for it!

First ever WPPI? Success. I can’t wait for all that’s in store this coming year : )

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