Golden hour in Los Angeles
Golden hour in Los Angeles starts at 19:30 on 15 June and runs 37 minutes; on 15 December it is 38 minutes from 16:08. The calculator above is preset to Los Angeles — 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 Los Angeles
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 Los Angeles: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Los Angeles (34.0522, -118.2437) in the America/Los_Angeles timezone, DST included. Between December (38 minutes) and March (33 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 | 06:59 | 17:07 | 07:36 | 16:30 | 17:24 | 10h 08min |
| February | 06:39 | 17:37 | 07:13 | 17:03 | 17:53 | 10h 59min |
| March | 07:04 | 19:01 | 07:37 | 18:28 | 19:16 | 11h 57min |
| April | 06:23 | 19:25 | 06:56 | 18:51 | 19:40 | 13h 02min |
| May | 05:52 | 19:48 | 06:28 | 19:13 | 20:05 | 13h 56min |
| June | 05:42 | 20:07 | 06:19 | 19:30 | 20:24 | 14h 25min |
| July | 05:53 | 20:06 | 06:30 | 19:30 | 20:23 | 14h 12min |
| August | 06:15 | 19:41 | 06:50 | 19:07 | 19:58 | 13h 26min |
| September | 06:37 | 19:01 | 07:10 | 18:28 | 19:17 | 12h 24min |
| October | 06:59 | 18:20 | 07:32 | 17:46 | 18:36 | 11h 21min |
| November | 06:27 | 16:50 | 07:03 | 16:14 | 17:07 | 10h 24min |
| December | 06:52 | 16:46 | 07:30 | 16:08 | 17:03 | 9h 54min |
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 06:19 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:42.
After sunset, Los Angeles still offers the blue hour: from 20:24 to 20:36 in June (11 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 Los Angeles today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Los Angeles from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:30, in mid-December at 16:08.
How long does golden hour last in Los Angeles?
Between 33 minutes (March) and 38 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.