Golden hour in Austin

Golden hour in Austin starts at 20:00 on 15 June and runs 35 minutes; on 15 December it is 36 minutes from 16:57. The calculator above is preset to Austin — pick a date and sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour for that exact shoot day are right there, exportable as a calendar entry.

Golden hour calculator for Austin

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Sunrise
Sunset
Golden hour (am)
Golden hour (pm)
Blue hour (pm)
Daylight
Sunset azimuth

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Golden and blue hour in Austin: all twelve months

The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Austin (30.2672, -97.7431) in the America/Chicago timezone, DST included. Between December (36 minutes) and March (32 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.1.

Golden and blue hour in Austin, 2026 (mid-month, local time)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden am (until)Golden pm (from)Blue hour (from)Daylight
January07:2917:5308:0417:1818:0910h 24min
February07:1218:2007:4517:4718:3511h 08min
March07:4219:4008:1319:0819:5411h 58min
April07:0419:5907:3719:2720:1412h 54min
May06:3820:1807:1219:4520:3413h 41min
June06:3020:3507:0520:0020:5214h 05min
July06:4020:3507:1520:0020:5113h 55min
August06:5920:1407:3219:4120:2913h 15min
September07:1619:3807:4819:0619:5312h 22min
October07:3419:0108:0618:2919:1611h 28min
November06:5717:3607:3217:0117:5110h 38min
December07:2117:3307:5716:5717:4910h 12min

Fitting the window into the shoot day

The evening window is the reliable half: the crew is warmed up, the setup exists, and golden hour is the last slot before wrap. The morning window right after sunrise (until 07:05 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 06:30.

After sunset, Austin still offers the blue hour: from 20:52 to 21:02 in June (11 minutes). If you need both looks on one evening, everything from the start of golden hour to the end of blue hour is one continuous window — with no room for a re-rig inside it.

Frequently asked

When is golden hour in Austin today?

Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Austin from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:00, in mid-December at 16:57.

How long does golden hour last in Austin?

Between 32 minutes (March) and 36 minutes (December) in the evening. The name misleads — it never actually reaches a full hour here.

How accurate are the times?

To about one minute (standard NOAA-style solar computation). Not included: horizon shading from buildings or hills to the west — which can genuinely shorten the window at your location.