Golden hour in Chicago
Golden hour in Chicago starts at 19:46 on 15 June and runs 42 minutes; on 15 December it is 45 minutes from 15:36. The calculator above is preset to Chicago — 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 Chicago
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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Golden and blue hour in Chicago: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Chicago (41.8781, -87.6298) in the America/Chicago timezone, DST included. Between December (45 minutes) and March (37 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.2.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 07:16 | 16:45 | 08:00 | 16:01 | 17:04 | 9h 28min |
| February | 06:47 | 17:24 | 07:26 | 16:45 | 17:41 | 10h 37min |
| March | 07:03 | 18:57 | 07:40 | 18:20 | 19:14 | 11h 54min |
| April | 06:11 | 19:31 | 06:48 | 18:54 | 19:49 | 13h 20min |
| May | 05:31 | 20:04 | 06:11 | 19:24 | 20:24 | 14h 33min |
| June | 05:16 | 20:28 | 05:58 | 19:46 | 20:49 | 15h 12min |
| July | 05:29 | 20:25 | 06:10 | 19:44 | 20:45 | 14h 56min |
| August | 05:59 | 19:52 | 06:38 | 19:14 | 20:11 | 13h 53min |
| September | 06:31 | 19:02 | 07:08 | 18:25 | 19:19 | 12h 30min |
| October | 07:03 | 18:11 | 07:41 | 17:33 | 18:28 | 11h 07min |
| November | 06:41 | 16:31 | 07:23 | 15:50 | 16:50 | 9h 50min |
| December | 07:12 | 16:21 | 07:57 | 15:36 | 16:41 | 9h 09min |
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 05:58 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:16.
After sunset, Chicago still offers the blue hour: from 20:49 to 21:02 in June (14 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 Chicago today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Chicago from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:46, in mid-December at 15:36.
How long does golden hour last in Chicago?
Between 37 minutes (March) and 45 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.