Golden hour in San Jose
Golden hour in San Jose starts at 19:52 on 15 June and runs 39 minutes; on 15 December it is 41 minutes from 16:11. The calculator above is preset to San Jose — 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 Jose
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 San Jose: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of San Jose (37.3382, -121.8863) in the America/Los_Angeles timezone, DST included. Between December (41 minutes) and March (34 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 | 07:21 | 17:14 | 08:01 | 16:34 | 17:31 | 9h 53min |
| February | 06:58 | 17:48 | 07:34 | 17:11 | 18:04 | 10h 50min |
| March | 07:19 | 19:15 | 07:54 | 18:41 | 19:31 | 11h 56min |
| April | 06:33 | 19:43 | 07:08 | 19:08 | 19:59 | 13h 09min |
| May | 06:00 | 20:10 | 06:37 | 19:33 | 20:28 | 14h 10min |
| June | 05:47 | 20:31 | 06:26 | 19:52 | 20:49 | 14h 43min |
| July | 05:59 | 20:29 | 06:37 | 19:51 | 20:47 | 14h 29min |
| August | 06:25 | 20:01 | 07:00 | 19:25 | 20:18 | 13h 36min |
| September | 06:50 | 19:17 | 07:25 | 18:43 | 19:33 | 12h 26min |
| October | 07:16 | 18:32 | 07:51 | 17:56 | 18:48 | 11h 16min |
| November | 06:48 | 16:58 | 07:26 | 16:20 | 17:16 | 10h 11min |
| December | 07:15 | 16:52 | 07:56 | 16:11 | 17:10 | 9h 36min |
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 06:26 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:47.
After sunset, San Jose still offers the blue hour: from 20:49 to 21:02 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 Jose today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for San Jose from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:52, in mid-December at 16:11.
How long does golden hour last in San Jose?
Between 34 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.