Golden hour in Queenstown
Golden hour in Queenstown starts at 16:21 on 15 June and runs 49 minutes; on 15 December it is 45 minutes from 20:43. The calculator above is preset to Queenstown — 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 Queenstown
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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Runs entirely in your browser — no sign-up, nothing transmitted.
Golden and blue hour in Queenstown: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of Queenstown (-45.0312, 168.6626) and the Pacific/Auckland timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 39 minutes in March and 49 in June — schedule "an hour" and you are wrong in both.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 06:18 | 21:32 | 07:02 | 20:48 | 21:54 | 15h 14min |
| February | 07:02 | 20:58 | 07:43 | 20:18 | 21:18 | 13h 56min |
| March | 07:41 | 20:10 | 08:20 | 19:31 | 20:28 | 12h 29min |
| April | 07:20 | 18:12 | 08:00 | 17:32 | 18:30 | 10h 52min |
| May | 07:57 | 17:29 | 08:41 | 16:44 | 17:48 | 9h 32min |
| June | 08:23 | 17:10 | 09:12 | 16:21 | 17:31 | 8h 47min |
| July | 08:20 | 17:24 | 09:07 | 16:37 | 17:44 | 9h 04min |
| August | 07:45 | 17:57 | 08:27 | 17:15 | 18:16 | 10h 12min |
| September | 06:50 | 18:33 | 07:29 | 17:54 | 18:51 | 11h 43min |
| October | 06:54 | 20:10 | 07:33 | 19:31 | 20:29 | 13h 17min |
| November | 06:08 | 20:53 | 06:50 | 20:11 | 21:14 | 14h 45min |
| December | 05:54 | 21:29 | 06:39 | 20:43 | 21:51 | 15h 35min |
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 09:12 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 08:23.
After sunset, Queenstown still offers the blue hour: from 17:31 to 17:44 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 Queenstown today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Queenstown from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 16:21, in mid-December at 20:43.
How long does golden hour last in Queenstown?
Between 39 minutes (March) and 49 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.