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American Fork Canyon Session Guide//Sam + Bryt’s Anniversary

Two women leaning their heads together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session

Bryt and I will celebrate four years of being married on July 15! So of course we had to schedule a four year anniversary session while we were out photographing an elopement in Utah! So, we contacted our fav. local photographers and scheduled our American Fork Canyon Session! Read on to find out more about our session and see more photos from the morning!

American Fork Canyon

After chatting with Bree and Stephen (our amazing photogs!) we were going back and forth between the Bonneville Salt Flats and a mountain view. Knowing it was going to be like 100 degrees at sunset we opted for a sunrise session at American Fork Canyon. And man were we not prepared for all of the beauty that this location had to offer.

American Fork Canyon is a canyon that is located in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah. It is named after the American Fork River which runs through the bottom of the canyon. You can access this park by the Alpine Loop Scenic Byway.

This beautiful park is perfect for camping, hiking, fishing, rock climbing, and as you can see a beautiful photo session! 🙂

Two women leaning their heads together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
two LGBTQ women holding onto one another at American Fork Canyon in Utah
two LGBTQ women holding onto one another at American Fork Canyon in Utah

Silver Lake

After we decided to go with mountain views and cool temps, Bree and Stephen suggested we adventure up to American Fork Canyon for a sunrise session. Now, getting up at 3AM is not for the faint of heart but after looking at these photos you can see that it was truly worth it. We practically had the whole park to ourselves (minus a few people camping). Adventures before sunrise are always so much better because they are much more private!

After driving allllll the way to the top (luckily Stephen drove ha!) we were able to capture the alpine glow on the mountains at Silver Lake. Now, if you are wanting to make this drive, be prepared for a LOT of potholes. You MUST have a 4WD car to make it to the top LOL!

We had way too much fun being photographed in one of the most beautiful spots in Utah! Just see for yourself 🙂

Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
Two women holding hands overlooking the mountains at an LGBTQ anniversary session in Utah
Two women holding hands overlooking the mountains at an LGBTQ anniversary session in Utah
Two women holding onto another another overlooking the mountains at an LGBTQ anniversary session in Utah
Two women holding onto another another overlooking the mountains at an LGBTQ anniversary session in Utah

Our Photographers//Bree + Stephen

Bree and Stephen have been what we call “internet pals” for a while now! We met them through an online photography group that they hosted. Bree and Stephen are creative entrepreneurs based in Salt Lake City who help create digital lifestyle content.

When we found out we were visiting Utah we convinced them to hop back into their couples photog life for a few hours to shoot our anniversary photos! And of course we couldn’t imagine a session without their pup Sequoia! After our session these two drove us around some of the popular spots in Utah!

Clearly you can see how excited we were to meet Sequoia, too 😉

two women holding onto a german Shepard at the LGBTQ anniversary session in Utah
two women holding onto a german Shepard at the LGBTQ anniversary session in Utah
Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
two women kissing at their lgbtq anniversary session in utah with mountains in the background
two women looking at mountains at their lgbtq anniversary session in utah with mountains in the background

Where should we stay while visiting American Fork Canyon?

American Fork Canyon is located about 40 minutes away from Salt Lake City. We stayed in SLC just because of the ease of getting to a variety of places from downtown SLC. Plus, SLC has so much to offer for nightlife and restaurants! Plus SLC is the airport that most choose to fly into. Our airbnb was about 10 minutes from the airport which was perfect for our early morning flights.

We stayed in this cute little airbnb hosted by Vapid. It was on the outskirts of SLC so it was perfect for getting on and off of the expressway. It was perfect for what we needed and we loved the safety measures that the apartment had in place! We also were able to walk across the street to the downtown farmers market, which was HUGE!

Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
two women kissing in front of mountains at their lgbtq anniversary session in utah with mountains in the background
Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session

When is the best time of year to visit American Fork Canyon?

We’d like to argue that anytime would be perfect to visit American Fork Canyon! While we loved all that summer had to offer we can easily see how beautiful this place could be in the winter! I can picture the snow capped mountains and trees… so we’d say either time! Just be prepared with snow tires/snow chains 🙂

Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session
Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session

What should we do after our American Fork Canyon session?

We had the luxury of having Bree + Stephen show us around the area after our session! While you are checking out all that American Fork Canyon has to offer, you can head out on a short drive to Bridal Veil Falls and Waffle Luv for breakfast! You can also take a scenic drive on Big Cottonwood Canyon Scenic Drive!

Two women walking together with mountains in the background at their american fork canyon anniversary session

Wow! That was truly a fun adventure! We are so lucky to have great friends who take amazing photos! 🙂 Thanks to at Bree + Stephen for being great photogs and friends! We hope you loved our photos!

Now, I can say that we are ready to get back to Utah! If you are ready to schedule your own anniversary photoshoot in Utah, we’d love to capture it! Contact us today for an adventure of a lifetime!

XOXO,
Sam + Bryt

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