Golden Hour & Sun Angle Calculator

Light makes or breaks a photo, and the sun’s position decides the light. Landscape and portrait photographers plan for golden hour, filmmakers schedule outdoor scenes around sun direction, architects check shadows, and gardeners find the sunniest spots. This calculator gives the sun’s position and the key times for any place on Earth and any date.

Choosing the place

Pick a city from the list, type latitude and longitude for a precise spot such as a viewpoint or a beach, or let the browser use your current location. Coordinates can be copied from any map app: right-click a point in most online maps to see them.

Date and time zone

Choose the date of your shoot and the time zone of the place, in hours from UTC including daylight saving time. A summer date in New York, for instance, is UTC −4; in Berlin UTC +2. Times in the results are shown in that zone.

Sun position at any time

Pick a time to see the sun’s elevation above the horizon and its azimuth, the compass direction measured clockwise from north. An azimuth of 90 degrees is due east, 180 due south, 270 due west. Together they tell you where the light comes from and how high, so you know whether a facade will be lit or a valley in shadow at that moment.

Sunrise, noon and sunset

Sunrise and sunset are the moments the top of the sun crosses the horizon, including the usual allowance for atmospheric refraction. Solar noon is when the sun is highest, which is rarely 12:00 on the clock. Day length follows from these.

Golden hour and blue hour

Golden hour here is the period when the sun is between 6 degrees above and 4 degrees below the horizon, giving warm, soft, directional light. Blue hour is when the sun is between 4 and 6 degrees below, with deep blue skies and city lights balanced against the sky. Civil twilight runs until the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. Durations depend strongly on latitude and season.

Shadow length

The calculator shows how long a shadow is relative to an object’s height at the chosen time. At 45 degrees elevation, a shadow equals the object’s height; at 10 degrees, it is more than five times as long. Useful for architecture, gardening and for avoiding long shadows of the photographer in the frame.

How it is calculated

The sun’s position comes from the NOAA solar equations, the standard used by many astronomy and photography apps, computed entirely on your device. Results match published almanac values to within a minute or so for normal latitudes.

Real-world limits

Mountains, buildings and trees change when you actually see the sun, and haze, clouds and smog change the quality of light. Arrive early and scout the location.

Planning a shoot

Check the azimuth at golden hour against a map of the location. If the sun sets behind your subject, expect a silhouette or backlight; if it sets behind you, the subject is front-lit in warm light. Moving a portrait session by thirty minutes can change everything.

Related tools

For night shots after blue hour, use the Star Trail Calculator. Plan a sunset time-lapse with the Timelapse Calculator. For film shoots, the Call Sheet Generator adds sun times to the day’s schedule.