Golden hour times for any place
Find when golden hour starts and ends at your location today, morning and evening, with the sun's direction. Free, in your browser.
What golden hour is
Golden hour is the time shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low, light is warm and soft and shadows are long. Photographers usually define it by the sun's height: from about 6° above the horizon down to about 4° below. That is the definition this calculator uses.
How long it lasts
Its length depends on how steeply the sun crosses the horizon. Near the equator the sun drops fast and golden hour can be under 30 minutes. At higher latitudes, and in summer, it can last well over an hour; in the far north around midsummer the evening golden hour can run into the morning one.
Planning a shoot
Check where the sun will set as well as when: the sunset direction moves along the horizon through the year — north of west in summer and south of west in winter in the northern hemisphere. Hills or buildings in that direction end your light earlier than the calculated time.
Evening golden hour in eight cities, 2026
Local clock times when the sun is between 6° above and 4° below the horizon in the evening, on the four turning points of the year. The shortest in the table is Singapore at 40 minutes; the longest is Reykjavik at 92 minutes. Cities near the equator get the shortest golden hour all year, because the sun goes down almost vertically there.
| City | 20 Mar March equinox | 21 Jun June solstice | 23 Sep September equinox | 21 Dec December solstice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| London | 17:29–18:33 64 min | 20:27–21:49 83 min | 18:12–19:17 64 min | 14:51–16:18 87 min |
| New York | 18:32–19:24 53 min | 19:49–20:50 62 min | 18:15–19:08 53 min | 15:48–16:50 63 min |
| Los Angeles | 18:31–19:20 48 min | 19:30–20:25 55 min | 18:15–19:03 48 min | 16:09–17:04 56 min |
| Toronto | 18:52–19:47 55 min | 20:18–21:24 66 min | 18:35–19:30 55 min | 15:56–17:03 67 min |
| Sydney | 18:34–19:22 48 min | 16:15–17:10 55 min | 17:19–18:07 48 min | 19:28–20:23 55 min |
| Tokyo | 17:19–18:08 49 min | 18:22–19:18 56 min | 17:03–17:53 49 min | 15:52–16:49 57 min |
| Singapore | 18:48–19:28 40 min | 18:42–19:26 44 min | 18:33–19:13 40 min | 18:34–19:17 44 min |
| Reykjavik | 18:40–20:12 92 min | evening light runs past midnight — no separate evening golden hour | 18:22–19:54 92 min | sun stays below 6° all day (highest 2.7°) |
Calculated for a flat horizon with the planner's own engine. Times are local clock time, including daylight saving time where it applies on that date.
Related
- Moonrise and moon phase — the moon's rise and set times and direction for the same place.
- Planets tonight — what is visible after the blue hour ends.
- When the clocks change — on the day of a daylight saving change every sunrise and sunset time on the clock moves by an hour, although the sun does not.
Times are calculated with the NOAA solar position equations; sunrise and sunset use the standard −0.833° horizon. Golden hour (6° to −4°) and blue hour (−4° to −6°) are photographers' conventions, not official definitions.