Golden Hour Calculator

Find the exact times for golden hour, blue hour, sunrise, and sunset at any location. Enter your city or use your current location, pick a date, and plan the perfect shoot.

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Golden Hour and Blue Hour for Photographers

Light makes or breaks a photo. And the best natural light you'll ever shoot in happens during two short windows: golden hour and blue hour.

The tricky part? These windows shift every single day depending on where you are and the time of year. Show up ten minutes late and you might miss it entirely.

What Is Golden Hour?

Golden hour is that window right after sunrise and before sunset when the sun sits low on the horizon, roughly 6 degrees above down to the horizon line. The light goes warm, soft, and directional all at once.

Long shadows. Rich colours. A natural glow on everything it touches. It's the most flattering light you'll find for portraits, landscapes, and honestly any kind of photography.

The name is a bit misleading, though. It's not always an hour. Near the equator, you might only get 20 minutes because the sun drops fast. Closer to the poles in summer, that golden light can stretch on for hours. This calculator shows you exactly what you're working with at your location.

What Is Blue Hour?

Blue hour sits on either side of golden hour. It's the time just before sunrise and just after sunset, when the sun is between 4 and 6 degrees below the horizon.

The sky turns a deep, saturated blue. Street lights and building lights are on. You get this gorgeous contrast between cool ambient light and warm artificial light that's perfect for cityscapes, architecture, and moody landscapes.

It's shorter than golden hour, and the light shifts fast. If you're not already set up when it starts, you'll be scrambling. Bring a tripod. You'll need one at these light levels.

Tips for Shooting During Golden Hour

Get there early. The best moments can be over in minutes, and you don't want to spend golden hour looking for a composition. Scout your location ahead of time so you can just shoot.

Try shooting into the light for backlit silhouettes and sun flares. Or flip around and put the light behind you for warm, even illumination on your subject. Side lighting is brilliant too, adding real dimension and texture.

For portraits? Golden hour is almost foolproof. The low angle and warm colour temperature are universally flattering.

Place your subject between you and the sun to get a natural rim light effect, then add a reflector or fill flash if the face goes too dark. It's one of those setups that looks incredible with very little effort.

Want to master natural light? Our Lighting guide covers everything from golden hour techniques to working with harsh midday sun, plus our Landscape guide has tips specifically for chasing the best light outdoors.

Frequently Asked Questions

It depends on your latitude and the time of year. Near the equator, golden hour can be as short as 20-30 minutes because the sun rises and sets almost vertically. At higher latitudes (like Northern Europe or Canada), the sun takes a much more gradual path, and golden hour can stretch to well over an hour. In summer near the Arctic Circle, the golden light can last for hours. This calculator shows the exact duration for your location and date.
The light quality is similar but the mood is different. Morning golden hour tends to have clearer air and mist, which can add atmosphere to landscapes. Evening golden hour often has more haze and dust in the air, which can create warmer, more saturated colours. Practically, morning golden hour also means fewer people at popular locations.
The light changes quickly during golden hour, so shooting in aperture priority or manual mode is best. Start around ISO 100-400, use whatever aperture suits your creative goal, and let the shutter speed adjust. A white balance of "shade" or "cloudy" enhances the warm tones, or shoot in RAW and adjust later. Keep an eye on your shutter speed as the light fades and bump ISO if needed.
Almost always, yes. Blue hour light levels are low, and you'll typically be shooting at shutter speeds of 1/15s or slower. A tripod lets you keep ISO low for the cleanest image quality. If you're shooting handheld, you'll need to push ISO much higher and use a fast lens with image stabilisation.
Golden hour and blue hour times depend entirely on where you are on Earth and what date it is. The sun's path across the sky varies by latitude, longitude, and time of year. A location near the equator will have very different golden hour times than one in Scandinavia. The calculator uses your coordinates to compute the exact sun positions for your specific location.

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