Golden hour in San Francisco
Golden hour in San Francisco starts at 19:55 on 15 June and runs 39 minutes; on 15 December it is 41 minutes from 16:12. The calculator above is preset to San Francisco — 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 San Francisco
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 San Francisco: all twelve months
Everything derives from the coordinates of San Francisco (37.7749, -122.4194) and the America/Los_Angeles timezone — no estimates. The planning-relevant part: the evening window here swings between 35 minutes in March and 41 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 | 07:25 | 17:15 | 08:04 | 16:35 | 17:33 | 9h 50min |
| February | 07:00 | 17:49 | 07:37 | 17:13 | 18:06 | 10h 49min |
| March | 07:22 | 19:17 | 07:56 | 18:43 | 19:33 | 11h 56min |
| April | 06:35 | 19:45 | 07:10 | 19:10 | 20:02 | 13h 10min |
| May | 06:01 | 20:13 | 06:38 | 19:36 | 20:31 | 14h 12min |
| June | 05:48 | 20:34 | 06:27 | 19:55 | 20:53 | 14h 46min |
| July | 06:00 | 20:32 | 06:39 | 19:54 | 20:51 | 14h 32min |
| August | 06:26 | 20:04 | 07:02 | 19:28 | 20:21 | 13h 38min |
| September | 06:52 | 19:19 | 07:27 | 18:45 | 19:35 | 12h 27min |
| October | 07:19 | 18:33 | 07:54 | 17:58 | 18:50 | 11h 15min |
| November | 06:51 | 17:00 | 07:29 | 16:21 | 17:17 | 10h 09min |
| December | 07:19 | 16:53 | 08:00 | 16:12 | 17:11 | 9h 34min |
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 06:27 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:48.
After sunset, San Francisco still offers the blue hour: from 20:53 to 21:05 in June (12 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 San Francisco today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for San Francisco from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:55, in mid-December at 16:12.
How long does golden hour last in San Francisco?
Between 35 minutes (March) and 41 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.