Golden hour in Christchurch
Golden hour in Christchurch starts at 16:13 on 15 June and runs 47 minutes; on 15 December it is 44 minutes from 20:23. The calculator above is preset to Christchurch — 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 Christchurch
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 Christchurch: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Christchurch (-43.5321, 172.6362) in the Pacific/Auckland timezone, DST included. Between June (47 minutes) and March (38 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 | 06:07 | 21:11 | 06:50 | 20:29 | 21:32 | 15h 04min |
| February | 06:49 | 20:40 | 07:29 | 20:00 | 20:58 | 13h 50min |
| March | 07:26 | 19:53 | 08:04 | 19:15 | 20:11 | 12h 27min |
| April | 07:02 | 17:58 | 07:41 | 17:19 | 18:16 | 10h 56min |
| May | 07:37 | 17:17 | 08:20 | 16:33 | 17:36 | 9h 40min |
| June | 08:02 | 17:00 | 08:48 | 16:13 | 17:20 | 8h 58min |
| July | 07:59 | 17:13 | 08:44 | 16:27 | 17:33 | 9h 14min |
| August | 07:26 | 17:44 | 08:07 | 17:03 | 18:02 | 10h 18min |
| September | 06:34 | 18:18 | 07:12 | 17:40 | 18:36 | 11h 44min |
| October | 06:40 | 19:53 | 07:18 | 19:14 | 20:11 | 13h 13min |
| November | 05:56 | 20:33 | 06:37 | 19:52 | 20:53 | 14h 37min |
| December | 05:43 | 21:07 | 06:27 | 20:23 | 21:28 | 15h 24min |
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 08:48 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 08:02.
After sunset, Christchurch still offers the blue hour: from 17:20 to 17:32 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 Christchurch today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Christchurch from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 16:13, in mid-December at 20:23.
How long does golden hour last in Christchurch?
Between 38 minutes (March) and 47 minutes (June) 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.