Golden hour in Sacramento
Golden hour in Sacramento starts at 19:53 on 15 June and runs 40 minutes; on 15 December it is 42 minutes from 16:05. The calculator above is preset to Sacramento — 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 Sacramento
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 Sacramento: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of Sacramento (38.5816, -121.4944) and the America/Los_Angeles timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 35 minutes in March and 42 in December — schedule "an hour" and you are wrong in both.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 07:23 | 17:09 | 08:03 | 16:29 | 17:27 | 9h 46min |
| February | 06:58 | 17:44 | 07:35 | 17:07 | 18:01 | 10h 47min |
| March | 07:18 | 19:13 | 07:53 | 18:38 | 19:30 | 11h 55min |
| April | 06:30 | 19:43 | 07:06 | 19:07 | 19:59 | 13h 12min |
| May | 05:55 | 20:11 | 06:33 | 19:34 | 20:29 | 14h 16min |
| June | 05:42 | 20:33 | 06:22 | 19:53 | 20:52 | 14h 51min |
| July | 05:54 | 20:31 | 06:33 | 19:52 | 20:49 | 14h 36min |
| August | 06:21 | 20:02 | 06:57 | 19:25 | 20:19 | 13h 41min |
| September | 06:48 | 19:16 | 07:23 | 18:41 | 19:32 | 12h 27min |
| October | 07:16 | 18:29 | 07:52 | 17:53 | 18:45 | 11h 13min |
| November | 06:49 | 16:54 | 07:28 | 16:15 | 17:12 | 10h 05min |
| December | 07:17 | 16:47 | 07:59 | 16:05 | 17:05 | 9h 29min |
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 06:22 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:42.
After sunset, Sacramento still offers the blue hour: from 20:52 to 21:05 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 Sacramento today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Sacramento from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:53, in mid-December at 16:05.
How long does golden hour last in Sacramento?
Between 35 minutes (March) and 42 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.