Sunrise & Sunset Times

Sunrise & Sunset Times — Golden Hour Finder for Photographers

Every photographer knows that the best light does not happen at 2pm. It happens for about 30 minutes after the sun clears the horizon in the morning, and for 30 minutes before it slips below in the evening. That window — golden hour — is when the light turns warm, directional, and forgiving. Shadows stretch long and shallow. Skin tones glow. Architecture glints. Landscapes come alive. Miss it by 20 minutes and you are shooting in harsh midday conditions, or in dim blue twilight.

This tool calculates the exact golden hour windows for your city and date, alongside the precise sunrise and sunset times, solar noon, and civil twilight. You can use your device's location (click "Use my location") or search for any of 32 major cities worldwide. Select any past or future date to plan shoots weeks in advance.

What Is Golden Hour?

Golden hour is a loosely defined period centred on sunrise and sunset. The "hour" label is a generous approximation — the actual duration depends on your latitude and the time of year. Near the equator, the sun moves nearly vertically through the horizon, so golden light may last only 20–25 minutes. At northern latitudes like Scandinavia, the sun grazes the horizon at a low angle, stretching golden hour to 45–60 minutes or more.

This tool uses a standard ±30 minutes around the official sunrise and sunset times as the golden hour window. For most photographers shooting in mid-latitude cities (New York, London, Tokyo, Sydney), this is a reliable estimate. If you are shooting at an extreme latitude, add a few minutes on either side — you will likely have more golden light than the tool shows.

Why Sunrise Time Changes Throughout the Year

Earth's 23.5-degree axial tilt means the sun rises and sets at different angles throughout the year. Near the summer solstice (June 21 in the Northern Hemisphere), the sun rises earlier and sets later — day length is at its maximum. Near the winter solstice (December 21), the opposite is true. The rate of change is fastest in spring and autumn, near the equinoxes, and slowest near the solstices.

For photographers, this has practical implications. In New York, golden hour in late June starts around 5:15am — if you are not an early riser, you may prefer the golden hour shoot in autumn when sunrise creeps past 6am. In London, winter golden hour starts around 7:50am, making it one of the few times of year a photographer can shoot golden light before work.

Blue Hour: The Period Before Golden Hour

Just before golden hour in the morning, and just after it in the evening, there is an equally prized but often overlooked window called blue hour. This is the period of civil twilight — when the sun is up to 6 degrees below the horizon. The sky is a deep, even blue with no sun in frame, making it ideal for photographing lit buildings against a glowing sky, cityscapes, and any scene where you want warm artificial light to balance naturally with the ambient sky.

This tool shows the civil dawn and civil dusk times, which are the boundaries of blue hour. The morning blue hour runs from civil dawn to sunrise. The evening blue hour runs from sunset to civil dusk. Blue hour typically lasts 20–30 minutes, sometimes longer at high latitudes.

How This Tool Calculates Sunrise and Sunset

The calculations use the SunCalc library, which implements an open ephemeris algorithm based on Jean Meeus's astronomical algorithms (Astronomical Algorithms, 2nd edition). The algorithm accounts for the sun's position in the sky based on latitude, longitude, and the date. It is accurate to within a minute for most latitudes and dates, which is more than sufficient for photography planning.

All calculations happen client-side in your browser. No data is sent to a server. The times shown are in the local time of the selected city, accounting for the city's timezone and any Daylight Saving Time adjustments in effect on the chosen date.

Solar Noon: When the Sun Is at Its Peak

Solar noon is the moment the sun reaches the highest point in its arc for that day. It is not the same as 12:00 PM on a clock — it varies by your exact position within your timezone and by the "equation of time," a calculation that accounts for Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt.

For photographers, solar noon marks the harshest light of the day — overhead sun creates unflattering shadows and high contrast. It is also the time to avoid for portrait photography in natural light. But solar noon is useful for landscape photography when you want to capture the full detail of a subject without shadows — especially useful for aerial or overhead shots.

Practical Golden Hour Tips for Photographers

• Arrive 15 minutes early. Golden hour changes fast. If you arrive at sunrise and start setting up, you have already lost the best five minutes of light. Be on location, composition chosen, camera set, 15 minutes before the golden hour window starts.
• Shoot toward the light. With the sun low on the horizon, you have a choice: shoot into the sun (silhouette, lens flare, dramatic) or have the sun behind you (warm, even, front-lit). Both work. The mistake is shooting sideways with the sun at 90 degrees — you get uneven, unflattering side light.
• Check the weather, not just the time. Heavy cloud cover can wipe out golden hour entirely. Light cloud can amplify it — thin clouds can scatter warm light and create a glowing sky. Check a weather forecast that shows cloud cover by the hour (Weather.com, Windy, or a dedicated app like PhotoPills).
• Golden hour repeats every day. Did you miss today's morning golden hour? Tomorrow is another chance. Use this tool to check multiple days in advance so you can plan around good weather.
• Video and timelapse. Golden hour is equally valuable for video work. The warm, low-angle light flatters faces, creates beautiful bokeh in shallow depth of field, and gives timelapse footage a cinematic quality. A 30-minute timelapse of the golden hour transition is one of the most watched video formats on social media.

Other Free Time Zone and Date Tools

• Holiday Calendar — public holidays for 20 countries with upcoming holidays countdown.
• Date Calculator — add or subtract days, count days between two dates, live countdown.
• World Clock — live time in 50+ cities updating every second.
• Timezone Converter — convert time between any two cities with a visual 24h timeline.
• Meeting Planner — find the best meeting time for up to 6 participants across time zones.

Frequently Asked Questions