Golden Hour Calculator
Exact golden hour times for the week ahead, anywhere on Earth.
Golden hours for
What is golden hour?
Golden hour is the window when the sun sits low on the horizon — between roughly 6° above it and 4° below — and its light travels through enough atmosphere to turn soft, warm and directional. Shadows stretch long, contrast drops, and skin tones flatter. This calculator computes the sun's true altitude for your exact coordinates, so the times are correct for your latitude and season, not a one-size-fits-all offset.
FAQ
- How long does golden hour last?
- It depends on latitude and season. Near the equator the sun crosses the golden band in well under an hour; at high latitudes in summer it can last for hours — or all night when the sun never climbs above 6°. The table above shows the real duration for your location.
- Is morning or evening golden hour better?
- The geometry is symmetric, the atmosphere is not: mornings are typically clearer and calmer, evenings warmer and dustier — which often means richer colour. Shoot both and compare.
- Why do some days show no golden hour?
- At high latitudes the sun can stay above 6° (no golden hour) or below −4° (golden light never arrives) for weeks around the solstices. A dash means that boundary was never crossed that day.