Golden hour in Charlotte

Golden hour in Charlotte starts at 20:03 on 15 June and runs 38 minutes; on 15 December it is 39 minutes from 16:34. The calculator above is preset to Charlotte — 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 Charlotte

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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 Charlotte: all twelve months

The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Charlotte (35.2271, -80.8431) in the America/New_York timezone, DST included. Between December (39 minutes) and September (33 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.2.

Golden and blue hour in Charlotte, 2026 (mid-month, local time)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden am (until)Golden pm (from)Blue hour (from)Daylight
January07:3217:3508:1016:5717:5210h 03min
February07:1118:0607:4617:3118:2210h 56min
March07:3519:3108:0918:5819:4711h 56min
April06:5219:5607:2619:2220:1213h 04min
May06:2020:2106:5619:4520:3814h 01min
June06:0920:4006:4720:0320:5814h 31min
July06:2120:3906:5820:0220:5714h 18min
August06:4420:1407:1919:3920:3013h 30min
September07:0719:3207:4018:5919:4812h 25min
October07:3018:5008:0418:1519:0511h 20min
November06:5917:1907:3616:4217:3510h 20min
December07:2517:1308:0516:3417:319h 48min

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 06:47 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 06:09.

After sunset, Charlotte still offers the blue hour: from 20:58 to 21:10 in June (12 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 Charlotte today?

Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Charlotte from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:03, in mid-December at 16:34.

How long does golden hour last in Charlotte?

Between 33 minutes (September) and 39 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.