Golden Hour Calculator

How the Golden Hour Calculator works

When the sun is low, its light passes through much more atmosphere before it reaches you. Blue light is scattered away, leaving warmer tones, and the light comes in from the side, so shadows are long and soft and faces are lit without harsh highlights. That is golden hour. Just before sunrise and after sunset, the sky itself becomes the light source and turns deep blue, which is blue hour.

How the golden hour calculator works

Golden hour is usually described as the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset, but the real length depends on how fast the sun climbs, which changes with latitude and season. This calculator uses the definition common in photography planning apps, based on the sun's elevation:

The sun's position comes from the same NOAA solar equations used for sunrise and sunset, accurate to about a minute. For each date it finds when the sun crosses each of those elevations, morning and evening, and shows the results in the time zone you choose.

Reading the results

• Sunrise and Sunset are given for reference.
• Morning blue hour runs until the sun is 4 degrees below the horizon.
• Morning golden hour runs from there until the sun is 6 degrees up.
• Evening golden hour and Evening blue hour run in reverse order.

In London on 1 October 2026, morning blue hour runs from 06:26 to 06:39 and golden hour from 06:39 to 07:43. In the evening, golden hour runs from 17:54 to 18:59 and blue hour from 18:59 to 19:12. Sunset is at 18:39, so evening golden hour starts about 45 minutes before it and carries on 20 minutes after.

How the season changes it

Near the equator the sun rises and sets almost vertically, so golden hour can be as short as 25 minutes. At higher latitudes the sun climbs at a slant and the light lasts longer. In London on 21 June, morning golden hour runs from 04:14 to 05:36 and evening golden hour from 20:27 to 21:49, both over 80 minutes.

In midwinter at high latitudes the sun may never get 6 degrees above the horizon. On 21 December in London it peaks at 15.1 degrees, so golden hours are long: 07:38 to 09:05 and 14:51 to 16:18. Further north the sun stays low all day, and the calculator notes when the whole day is golden light. In the far north in summer, when the sun never sets, these periods do not occur.

Planning a shoot

• Arrive 15 minutes before the start time to set up. The best colour often comes in the last few minutes before sunset and the first few after sunrise.
• Check the direction. In the Northern Hemisphere the sun rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest in summer, and in the southeast and southwest in winter.
• Hills and buildings to the east or west cut golden hour short. The times assume a flat horizon, so a valley or city street may lose the sun earlier.
• Clouds near the horizon can block the light entirely, while high, broken cloud often catches colour after sunset.
• Blue hour suits cityscapes, when artificial lights balance the sky. A tripod is usually needed as light levels drop quickly.

Camera settings

Golden hour light is soft but changes fast, so check exposure often. Shooting in raw keeps the warmth adjustable later, while a fixed white balance around 5,500 kelvin preserves the golden tone instead of letting auto white balance neutralise it. For blue hour, try a white balance near 4,000 kelvin for a deeper blue and use a low ISO with a longer exposure on a tripod.

Entering a location

Use decimal degrees, with north and east positive and south and west negative. Phone map apps show coordinates when you press and hold a location. Choose the time zone for that place so the times match local clocks, including daylight saving.

How many minutes of golden hour London gets through the year

The formula takes golden hour as the time the sun spends between 6° above the horizon and 4° below it, found with the same NOAA solar position method used for sunrise. For example, on 1 October 2026 London's morning golden hour runs from 06:39 to 07:43 and the evening one from 17:54 to 18:59. Each example below is in local clock time.

Golden hour in London through 2026, local clock time

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