Golden hour in Johannesburg
Golden hour in Johannesburg starts at 16:50 on 15 June and runs 34 minutes; on 15 December it is 34 minutes from 18:23. The calculator above is preset to Johannesburg — 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 Johannesburg
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 Johannesburg: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Johannesburg (-26.2041, 28.0473) in the Africa/Johannesburg timezone, DST included. Between June (34 minutes) and March (30 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.1.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 05:30 | 19:06 | 06:03 | 18:33 | 19:21 | 13h 36min |
| February | 05:53 | 18:52 | 06:25 | 18:21 | 19:07 | 12h 59min |
| March | 06:10 | 18:26 | 06:40 | 17:55 | 18:40 | 12h 16min |
| April | 06:24 | 17:53 | 06:55 | 17:22 | 18:07 | 11h 29min |
| May | 06:40 | 17:30 | 07:13 | 16:57 | 17:45 | 10h 51min |
| June | 06:54 | 17:24 | 07:28 | 16:50 | 17:40 | 10h 30min |
| July | 06:55 | 17:34 | 07:29 | 17:00 | 17:49 | 10h 38min |
| August | 06:38 | 17:49 | 07:10 | 17:17 | 18:03 | 11h 11min |
| September | 06:07 | 18:02 | 06:37 | 17:31 | 18:16 | 11h 55min |
| October | 05:34 | 18:15 | 06:05 | 17:44 | 18:29 | 12h 41min |
| November | 05:12 | 18:35 | 05:44 | 18:03 | 18:50 | 13h 23min |
| December | 05:11 | 18:57 | 05:44 | 18:23 | 19:13 | 13h 46min |
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 07:28 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 06:54.
After sunset, Johannesburg still offers the blue hour: from 17:40 to 17:50 in June (10 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 Johannesburg today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Johannesburg from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 16:50, in mid-December at 18:23.
How long does golden hour last in Johannesburg?
Between 30 minutes (March) and 34 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.