Golden Hour Today
Today's morning and evening golden hour for your location, calculated from the Sun's elevation and shown in that location's local time.
Use your device location or search any city. Location access is optional — searching works without it, and nothing is shared.
Choose a location to see today's times
Golden hour depends on latitude, longitude and the date, so two cities in the same timezone get different answers. Use the search above — or your device location if you prefer — and the morning and evening windows appear immediately, in that location's local time.
How these times are calculated
Golden hour is defined here by the Sun's elevation, not by a fixed number of minutes around sunrise and sunset. The window runs while the centre of the Sun sits between 4° below the horizon and 6° above it. The morning window is the rising crossing of that band; the evening window is the setting crossing. Sunrise and sunset use the standard −0.833° elevation, which accounts for atmospheric refraction and the radius of the solar disc.
The crossings are solved astronomically from the coordinates you select, then converted to civil time using the location's own IANA timezone, so daylight saving and half-hour offsets are handled correctly. The date used is the local date at that location, not the date on your own device.
These are astronomical estimates of light angle, not a promise of how the light will look. Cloud, haze, dust and the local horizon — mountains, buildings, a sea view — all change what you actually see, often by several minutes.
Why the length changes so much
Near the equator the Sun crosses the horizon almost vertically, so it passes through the golden band quickly — often in under half an hour. At higher latitudes it approaches the horizon at a shallow angle and the same band can take well over an hour to cross.
Far north or south the normal pattern breaks down entirely. The Sun can stay inside the band for most of the night, never climb above 6° at all, or stay too low to enter the band. This page reports those cases explicitly instead of inventing a start and end time.
Frequently asked questions
What time is golden hour today?
Golden hour happens twice a day and its timing depends entirely on your latitude, longitude and the date. Select a location on this page and we calculate today's morning and evening windows from the Sun's actual elevation, shown in that location's own local time.
How does Snap Weather define golden hour?
We use solar elevation, not a fixed number of minutes around sunrise. Golden hour is the period when the centre of the Sun is between 4 degrees below the horizon and 6 degrees above it. Morning golden hour is the rising crossing of that band, evening golden hour the setting crossing.
How long does golden hour last?
Rarely a full hour. Near the equator the Sun climbs steeply, so each window can be about 25 to 35 minutes. At higher latitudes the Sun moves at a shallow angle and the window stretches well beyond an hour, and close to the poles it can merge into continuous low-angle light or disappear altogether.
Why does the page need my location?
Golden hour times are astronomical, so they differ between cities that share a timezone. Location access is optional: you can search for any city instead, and nothing is calculated until you choose one.
Are the times exact?
The calculation is astronomical and accurate to well under a minute, but what you actually see depends on clouds, haze, air quality and the local horizon. Mountains, buildings or a sea horizon can shift usable light by several minutes in either direction.
Explore Golden Hour Around the World
Dedicated pages with local light windows and photography conditions for selected destinations.
Santorini, Greece
Caldera evenings over the Aegean
Paris, France
Soft city light along the Seine
Kyoto, Japan
Temple gardens in low morning light
Reykjavik, Iceland
Long, shallow windows at high latitude
Banff, Canada
Alpine light in the Rockies
Sydney, Australia
Harbour light, southern hemisphere
Cape Town, South Africa
Table Mountain as a backdrop
Bali, Indonesia
Short tropical windows near the equator
Los Angeles, USA
Coastal evening light on the Pacific
Dubrovnik, Croatia
Adriatic old-town walls at dusk