Conditions on this page are recalculated from the latest forecast every time it is opened, for the current date in the location's own time zone.
Arrive on site, scout composition, set tripod height and dial in white balance. Sun touches horizon. Mid-cloud canvas (if any) lights from below — saturated reds. Belt of Venus + alpenglow opposite the sun. Often the most colourful 10 minutes. Stars begin to appear. Milky Way visible in dark-sky locations from this point. Thin cirrus + clear horizon = soft pink to magenta. The most reliable beautiful sky. Mid-cloud lit from below + clear horizon = saturated reds and oranges. The flagship sunset. Patterned alto cloud — dramatic texture, slightly muted colour. A photographer favourite. Low coastal stratus hides the sun until it dips below the horizon. Mostly grey. Heavy low overcast — no colour at all. Even tropical humidity beats this for golden hour. The window when the sun is between roughly +6° and −4° relative to the horizon. Light travels through more atmosphere, scattering blue out and leaving warm reds and oranges. The exact duration varies from about 20 minutes near the equator to several hours near the polar circles — and golden hour bookends every day twice (after sunrise, before sunset). Evening golden hour: roughly 60 minutes before sunset to 10 minutes after. Morning golden hour: roughly 10 minutes before sunrise to 60 minutes after. The "magic" 5–10 minutes either side of the actual sun-on-horizon moment are when colour peaks if there's a cloud canvas to under-light. Use our Golden Hour Time tool for exact local timings. Blue hour is the period after sunset (or before sunrise) when the sun is between −4° and −8° below the horizon. The sky takes on a deep saturated blue while city lights start to balance it. Photographers often stay through both — golden hour into blue hour is a single continuous shoot, not two separate decisions. Sunrise air is cleaner (less aerosols, dust and human-made haze settled overnight) and the colours read sharper. Sunsets typically have more warmth and saturation because daytime convection adds particulates to the atmosphere. Sunsets are also more accessible — most people don't want to be on location at 4 AM. A 50% cloud day with all that cloud at low altitude (marine layer, fog) is the worst possible golden hour. The same 50% cloud cover at mid/high altitude with a clear horizon is the best possible golden hour. Total cloud cover is not the signal — the layered breakdown is. Our Decision Card splits it into the three layers that actually matter. For mid/high cloud to light up red and orange, the sun has to reach it from below. If there's a cloud bank on the horizon, the sun gets absorbed before its rays can travel under your cloud canvas. Horizon clarity is the single most predictive variable in the Sky Score — more important than total cloud cover. 30–60% mid/high cloud (alto- or cirrus-cumulus) with a clear horizon and minimal low cloud. The mid layer acts as a giant projection screen for the under-lit sun, while the clear horizon lets the light actually reach it. Throw in some atmospheric haze for warmth and you have the recipe behind every iconic sunset photograph. Cold fronts clear out low-altitude haze and humidity while leaving high cloud behind. The trailing edge of a passing storm gives you the best possible Sky Score combination: dramatic mid-cloud canvas + perfectly clean lower atmosphere + clear horizon as the cell exits. Our Decision Card detects this pattern and adds a "storm-drama" bonus. Moderate humidity (55–75%) softens light and warms it — this is the look behind classic Tuscany and Mediterranean golden hours. High humidity (above 85%) plus aerosols, smoke or dust create a hazy washout that mutes everything. Tropical sunsets without a front passing through often score lower than dry desert ones. Use the Plan My Golden Hour wizard above. Tell it your direction (sunrise or sunset), landscape vibe, goal (colour, reflection, silhouette, unique) and effort tolerance — it shortlists from the 14-spot database and ranks by Sky Score. Or check the Best Spots leaderboard if you're researching destinations months out. Use Plan My Golden Hour to filter by direction, landscape vibe and goal (colour, reflection, silhouette, unique). The 14-spot database covers most archetypes.
Scores are capped by dealbreakers — heavy rain, dangerous wind, thick fog or hazardous UV pull a day down no matter how pleasant the rest of the numbers look. Forecast data is Open-Meteo; solar and lunar values are computed for Golden Hour Planner's own coordinates and time zone. Full details on the methodology page.