Free tool for photographers
Golden hour and twilight calculator for real estate photographers.
Golden hour, blue hour and the twilight window for any city or coordinates, with an evening plan from arrival to last light and the hours the sun is on the front of the house.
- Golden hour and blue hour
- An arrive-by plan
- Sun on the front of the house
- The week ahead
- Add to your calendar
Free, no account, and it runs in your browser. Start below
Times update as you change anything. Nothing leaves your browser.
Los Angeles, CA · Pick a date
Pick a date to see the light.
Pick a date to plan the shoot.
The day’s light
Pacific Standard Time
The week ahead
| Day | Sunset | Blue hour |
|---|
Pick a day to plan it.
Missed the window, or the weather turned? Virtual Twilight turns a daytime exterior into a dusk photo in Studio.
How it works
Pick the place and the day.Get the evening, planned.
Anywhere
Search 67 US and Canadian cities, paste coordinates for the exact property, or use your location. Times show in the property's own timezone, daylight saving included.The windows
Sunrise, sunset, golden hour and blue hour in the morning and the evening, and the twilight window from sunset to last light.The plan
When to arrive with your set-up time, when the lights go on, the first twilight frames, the blue hour for the hero shots, and when you lose the light.The front of the house
Tell it which way the front faces and it finds the hours the sun is on it, and whether that lines up with golden hour.The week, and the calendar
Sunset and blue hour for the next seven days, so you can book the best evening, then a calendar file with the plan in its notes.
The definitions
By the sun's height,not by the clock.
- Sunrise and sunset
- When the top of the sun meets the horizon: its center 0.833 degrees below it, allowing for the sun's size and the bending of light by the air.
- Golden hour
- The sun between 6 degrees above the horizon and 4 degrees below the horizon: low, warm, directional light.
- Blue hour
- The sun between 4 and 6 degrees below the horizon: even, deep blue sky light.
- Last light
- The end of civil twilight, with the sun 6 degrees below the horizon.
- Twilight shoot window
- Sunset to last light: the stretch a real dusk exterior is shot in.
The times come from NOAA’s solar equations, worked in your browser. They describe an open horizon at sea level; terrain, trees and buildings bring the light earlier or later at the property itself.
Planning around the light
The front first.Then the clock.
Which way the front faces matters more than the time of day. A front that faces the evening sun glows in golden hour; one that faces the morning sun wants the start of the day; one that never sees direct sun is best in even light or at twilight, when the house lights carry it.
The window moves every day and swings by hours across the year, so check the date you are booking, not the one you shot last month. In winter a northern city can lose its twilight window before the end of the working day.
For a twilight shoot, work back from sunset: arrive with time to set up, get every light on, and shoot through the blue hour. Drone passes in low sun give rooflines and yards depth; check the airspace before you fly.
Questions
Asked often.Answered plainly.
What time is golden hour today?
It depends on where you are and the date, because it follows the sun's height, not the clock. Pick a city or enter coordinates above and the calculator gives today's morning and evening golden hour in that place's own timezone.
How is golden hour defined here?
As the time the sun is between 6 degrees above the horizon and 4 degrees below the horizon. Blue hour follows, from 4 to 6 degrees below, which is when civil twilight ends. Defining them by the sun's height means the windows stretch and shrink with the season and the latitude, the way the light does.
When should I shoot a twilight exterior?
Be set up before sunset with every light on, inside and out. Take the first frames at sunset and keep shooting through the blue hour, when the sky is dark enough for the windows to glow but still holds color. The calculator lists each of those times for the evening you pick.
What does the front of the house setting do?
It works out when the sun is in front of that wall, within 80 degrees of straight on, from sunrise to sunset on the date. If that overlaps golden hour, it tells you; if the front never gets direct sun that day, it says so, so you can plan the hero shot around it.
Can I use an address that is not in the city list?
Yes. Switch to Coordinates and paste the latitude and longitude from a map app, then check the timezone. Or tap Use my location when you are at the property. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How accurate are the times?
The calculator uses NOAA's solar equations, which NOAA gives as good to about a minute for latitudes within 72 degrees of the equator. Hills, trees and nearby buildings change when the light reaches the house far more than that, so build in a margin.
More free tools.
All tools and guidesIn Workspace
The window you planned,on the shoot's own card.
Every shoot sits on one calendar beside the calendars you connect, with the conditions for the time you booked. Sunrise and sunset at the property drive a golden-hour window and a blue-hour twilight window for on-site dusk shoots, shown on the shoot's card.
- Weather judged for the type of shoot: a drone day is not an interior day.
- The drive from your previous job, and a flag when the turnaround is tight.
