How to Use the Golden Hour & Blue Hour Calculator
Getting beautiful natural light in photos or video is half about picking the right time of day. This calculator only needs today's sunrise and sunset time to instantly calculate the warm-toned golden hour and the dreamy blue-toned blue hour windows. Look up your local sunrise and sunset time in any weather app, then enter them here.
Golden hour is when the sun sits low near the horizon, producing soft light and long shadows - typically the hour right after sunrise and the hour right before sunset. Blue hour is shorter and more dramatic: the roughly 30-minute window right before sunrise or right after sunset when the entire sky turns a deep, even blue.
Portrait and wedding photography benefit most from golden hour's soft light, while cityscapes and silhouette shots often look best during blue hour, when the sky and building lights balance each other. Plan to arrive and set up at least 30 minutes before golden hour begins so you don't miss the window.
Frequently Asked Questions
Search 'sunrise sunset today' along with your city in any weather app or search engine to get the exact local times, then enter them here.
Golden hour is when the sun sits low and casts warm, orange-toned light. Blue hour is the shorter window right before sunrise or after sunset when the whole sky turns a uniform deep blue.