WeatherArchive / Golden hour
Golden hour and blue hour calculator
Find the soft, warm light after sunrise and before sunset, and the deep-blue minutes either side of it, for any location and date. Times are worked out from the sun’s height, not a fixed “one hour” rule.
Find a place to see its golden hour.
What golden hour is, and why it isn’t always an hour
When the sun is low, its light crosses much more atmosphere. Blue light is scattered away sideways (Rayleigh scattering), so what reaches the scene is warmer and softer, and shadows are long. Photographers call that stretch golden hour. Its length depends on how steeply the sun’s path crosses the horizon: around 25 minutes in the tropics, an hour or more in northern Europe, and all night near the Arctic Circle in June.
Blue hour follows sunset (and precedes sunrise) when the sun is just below the horizon. The sky overhead is lit by scattered light that has passed through the ozone layer, which absorbs orange and red, leaving a saturated blue that balances nicely with city lights.
Where golden hour and blue hour come from
The curve is the sun’s height through one day. Golden hour is the band from 6° above the horizon down to about −4°; blue hour runs from −4° to −6°. Move the date and latitude and watch how long the sun lingers inside the bands.
Near the equator the sun drops almost vertically, so golden hour lasts barely 25 minutes. At high latitudes in summer it slides along the horizon and the warm light can last for hours.
Questions people ask
What time is golden hour today?
Pick your place and today’s date above. Golden hour begins when the sun drops to 6° above the horizon in the evening and ends a little after sunset; in the morning it runs the other way.
Is golden hour one hour before sunset?
Only roughly, at mid-latitudes. The real length depends on latitude and date, from about 25 minutes near the equator to several hours near the poles in summer.
When is blue hour?
While the sun is between 4° and 6° below the horizon: just after the evening golden hour and just before the morning one. It usually lasts 10–20 minutes at mid-latitudes.
Do clouds ruin golden hour?
A solid overcast does; broken high cloud often makes it better by catching colour. Clear horizons in the direction of the sun matter most.