Golden hour in Istanbul
Golden hour in Istanbul starts at 19:57 on 15 June and runs 41 minutes; on 15 December it is 44 minutes from 16:53. The calculator above is preset to Istanbul — 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 Istanbul
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 Istanbul: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Istanbul (41.0082, 28.9784) in the Europe/Istanbul timezone, DST included. Between December (44 minutes) and March (36 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 | 08:28 | 18:00 | 09:10 | 17:18 | 18:19 | 9h 33min |
| February | 08:00 | 18:38 | 08:38 | 18:00 | 18:56 | 10h 38min |
| March | 07:17 | 19:11 | 07:54 | 18:34 | 19:27 | 11h 53min |
| April | 06:26 | 19:43 | 07:03 | 19:07 | 20:01 | 13h 17min |
| May | 05:47 | 20:15 | 06:27 | 19:36 | 20:34 | 14h 28min |
| June | 05:32 | 20:39 | 06:14 | 19:57 | 20:59 | 15h 06min |
| July | 05:45 | 20:36 | 06:26 | 19:55 | 20:56 | 14h 51min |
| August | 06:14 | 20:05 | 06:52 | 19:27 | 20:23 | 13h 50min |
| September | 06:45 | 19:16 | 07:21 | 18:39 | 19:33 | 12h 31min |
| October | 07:16 | 18:25 | 07:53 | 17:48 | 18:42 | 11h 10min |
| November | 07:52 | 17:47 | 08:33 | 17:06 | 18:05 | 9h 55min |
| December | 08:23 | 17:37 | 09:06 | 16:53 | 17:57 | 9h 15min |
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 06:14 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:32.
After sunset, Istanbul still offers the blue hour: from 20:59 to 21:12 in June (13 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 Istanbul today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Istanbul from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:57, in mid-December at 16:53.
How long does golden hour last in Istanbul?
Between 36 minutes (March) and 44 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.