Golden hour in Cardiff
Golden hour in Cardiff starts at 20:38 on 15 June and runs 54 minutes; on 15 December it is 61 minutes from 15:04. The calculator above is preset to Cardiff — 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 Cardiff
Or enter coordinates
- Sunrise
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- Sunset
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- Golden hour (am)
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- Golden hour (pm)
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- Blue hour (pm)
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- Daylight
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- Sunset azimuth
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Runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, nothing transmitted.
Golden and blue hour in Cardiff: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of Cardiff (51.4816, -3.1791) and the Europe/London timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 44 minutes in March and 61 in December — schedule "an hour" and you are wrong in both.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 08:12 | 16:33 | 09:10 | 15:36 | 16:57 | 8h 20min |
| February | 07:28 | 17:28 | 08:16 | 16:39 | 17:49 | 10h 00min |
| March | 06:28 | 18:17 | 07:12 | 17:33 | 18:37 | 11h 49min |
| April | 06:18 | 20:09 | 07:03 | 19:24 | 20:30 | 13h 51min |
| May | 05:22 | 20:58 | 06:12 | 20:08 | 21:23 | 15h 36min |
| June | 04:56 | 21:32 | 05:50 | 20:38 | 22:00 | 16h 36min |
| July | 05:14 | 21:25 | 06:06 | 20:33 | 21:51 | 16h 11min |
| August | 05:59 | 20:38 | 06:45 | 19:51 | 21:00 | 14h 39min |
| September | 06:48 | 19:30 | 07:32 | 18:46 | 19:50 | 12h 42min |
| October | 07:37 | 18:22 | 08:23 | 17:36 | 18:42 | 10h 45min |
| November | 07:31 | 16:25 | 08:24 | 15:32 | 16:48 | 8h 54min |
| December | 08:12 | 16:05 | 09:14 | 15:04 | 16:30 | 7h 52min |
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 05:50 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 04:56.
After sunset, Cardiff still offers the blue hour: from 22:00 to 22:20 in June (19 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 Cardiff today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Cardiff from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:38, in mid-December at 15:04.
How long does golden hour last in Cardiff?
Between 44 minutes (March) and 61 minutes (December) in the evening. The name misleads — it only reaches a full hour in the longest months.
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.