Geospatial Configuration

Times shown in your local browser timezone. All solar math is 100% client-side.

Solar Day Timeline
Enter coordinates and a date to generate your solar timeline.
Forecast Summary
Lighting windows will appear here once coordinates are loaded.
📖 Key Terms Explained
Golden Hour
The period when the sun is between 6 degrees below and 6 degrees above the horizon, producing warm, low-angle light with soft shadows prized by photographers.
Blue Hour
The sub-phase when the sun sits 4 to 6 degrees below the horizon, bathing the sky in deep blue and indigo tones without any direct sunlight hitting the scene.
Solar Elevation Angle
The angle of the sun above (positive) or below (negative) the geometric horizon, measured in degrees. Controls light color, shadow length, and overall scene mood.
Civil Twilight
The period when the sun is between 0 and 6 degrees below the horizon. Enough ambient light exists for outdoor activities without artificial lighting.
Azimuth
The compass bearing of the sun, measured clockwise from true north. Knowing azimuth helps photographers orient their shot toward or away from the light source.
Atmospheric Refraction
The bending of sunlight by Earth's atmosphere that makes the sun appear about 0.57 degrees higher than it actually is, slightly extending the duration of golden and blue hours.
Celestial Sphere
An imaginary sphere of infinite radius centered on Earth, used to map the positions of the sun, moon, and stars as they appear from any point on the ground.
Solar Declination
The angle between the sun's rays and Earth's equatorial plane, ranging from +23.45 degrees at summer solstice to -23.45 degrees at winter solstice. Determines how high the sun rises each day.
Equation of Time
The difference in minutes between apparent solar time and mean solar time, caused by Earth's elliptical orbit and axial tilt. Shifts solar noon by up to 16 minutes throughout the year.
Solar Noon
The moment each day when the sun reaches its highest elevation above the horizon, exactly halfway between sunrise and sunset (corrected for the equation of time and longitude).

The Complete Guide to Golden Hour and Blue Hour Photography

Whether you are shooting portraits in a city park, capturing sweeping mountain landscapes, or photographing architecture at dusk, the quality of natural light is the single greatest variable you can control with planning rather than equipment. This tool removes the guesswork by computing the exact minutes of each lighting window at any location on Earth, for any date, using the same solar position algorithms published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

How to Use This Tool

Start by choosing your location method. For your current shooting location, tap "Use My Location" and allow browser GPS access. For planning future trips, switch to "Manual Coordinates" and type in the latitude and longitude of your destination (search "GPS coordinates" for any address to find these). Next, set your target date. Every time you adjust a value, the forecast updates instantly with no submit button required. The Solar Day Timeline bar maps the full 24-hour period, color-coded from deep night through blue hour, golden hour, and open daylight. The Forecast Summary panel gives you exact start and end times and the total duration of each shooting window. Hit "Copy Shooting Schedule" to paste a clean text block into your notes or calendar.

Why Golden Hour Light Looks Different

When the sun is near the horizon, its rays must pass through a much thicker slice of atmosphere than when it is overhead. This extra air column scatters out the shorter blue and violet wavelengths through a process called Rayleigh scattering, leaving predominantly longer red, orange, and amber wavelengths to reach the surface. The result is warmer, softer light that wraps around subjects rather than casting harsh overhead shadows. At the same time, the low angle produces dramatically long shadows that reveal texture in landscapes and create three-dimensional depth in portraits that is simply impossible to replicate at any other time of day.

The Science Behind Blue Hour

Blue hour is arguably misnamed: it rarely lasts a full hour and the color is more accurately described as steel blue-violet-indigo. It occurs when the sun is 4 to 6 degrees below the horizon. At this point the sun itself is not visible, yet its indirect light still illuminates the sky from below the horizon. Because no direct solar disk is present, there is no harsh shadow-casting source, giving the entire scene a perfectly even, diffuse ambient light. Man-made lights in the scene match the ambient sky in intensity far more closely during blue hour than at any other time, which is why cityscapes, bridge shots, and illuminated building facades look best in these few precious minutes.

How Latitude Shapes Your Shooting Window

Latitude is the single biggest predictor of golden hour duration. Near the equator (0 degrees), the sun moves almost vertically through the sky, crossing the 12-degree golden band in roughly 20 to 35 minutes depending on the season. At 45 degrees north or south (the latitude of Minneapolis, Venice, or Christchurch, New Zealand), the window stretches to 45 to 90 minutes. Near 65 degrees north (Alaska, Norway), golden hour can last two hours or more, and in midsummer the sun may circle the sky so low that the entire day qualifies as golden hour. This tool accounts for all these effects automatically by running the full solar position algorithm for your exact coordinate pair.

Seasonal Variation and Planning Ahead

The timing of every solar event shifts throughout the year because of Earth's axial tilt (23.45 degrees) and its elliptical orbit around the sun. In summer at mid-latitudes, golden hour can start before 5 AM and the evening session can last past 9 PM. In winter, the windows compress toward midday and the overall duration shortens because the sun never climbs very high. Professional photographers often use the date projection feature of tools like this one to scout locations months in advance, confirming that the sun will be in the right direction and at the right elevation for a specific creative vision at a specific spot.

Refraction, Elevation, and Precision

This forecaster applies a standard atmospheric refraction correction of approximately 0.57 degrees, which is why the sun appears to touch the horizon a few minutes before it geometrically does. If you are shooting from a high mountain location, the optional elevation field adjusts the horizon dip angle using the formula: dip angle in arcminutes = 1.76 times the square root of your elevation in meters. At 1,000 meters elevation this adds about 55 seconds of extra daylight to each end of the day. For most photographers at sea level this refinement is negligible, but for high-altitude landscape photographers it can matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Golden hour occurs when the sun is between 6 degrees below and 6 degrees above the horizon, producing warm amber and orange light with long, soft shadows ideal for portraits and landscapes. Blue hour occurs when the sun is between 4 and 6 degrees below the horizon, creating a cool, even blue-purple ambient light without direct sun that is perfect for cityscapes and architectural photography. Blue hour is technically a sub-window within the broader golden hour band, occurring at the very start of the morning session and at the very end of the evening session.
At higher latitudes, the sun travels at a shallower angle across the sky, meaning it takes much longer to move through the 12-degree golden hour elevation band. Near the poles in summer, golden hour can last several hours or even all night. Near the equator, the sun rises and sets nearly vertically, compressing golden hour to as little as 20 to 30 minutes. For photographers who want maximum shooting time, locations above 50 degrees latitude in summer offer the richest opportunities.
When the sun is low in the sky (below 6 degrees elevation), its light travels through more of the atmosphere, scattering out blue and violet wavelengths and leaving warm red, orange, and amber tones. This produces flattering, diffused light with long soft shadows that minimizes skin imperfections and adds a three-dimensional quality to faces that harsh midday overhead light cannot achieve. Additionally, the light source is effectively at eye-level rather than above, which fills in under-eye shadows and creates a natural catchlight in the subject's eyes.
Yes. The NOAA solar position algorithms used by this tool work accurately for any latitude from the equator to the poles. Note that near the poles during summer months, the sun may never set below the golden hour threshold, resulting in all-day golden light. During winter, the sun may not rise above -6 degrees at all, meaning there is no golden hour and only brief blue hour windows. In these edge cases, the tool displays a polar lighting notice explaining the situation so you know what to expect before traveling.
The timing shifts daily due to Earth's axial tilt and elliptical orbit. In summer at mid-latitudes, the sun rises earlier and golden hour starts before 5 AM, with evening golden hour extending past 8 PM. In winter, the sun rises later and lower, compressing the day and shifting all windows later in the morning and earlier in the evening. At any location, the daily sunrise time can vary by up to 3 to 4 hours across the year. Professional photographers often plan shoots months in advance using date projection tools to ensure the light falls at exactly the right angle for their subject.