Morning golden hour
6:48 AM to 7:48 AM
60 min · Sunrise is at 7:06 AM.
Free tool
Golden hour calculator
Type any city or ZIP code. Pick a date. Get golden hour, blue hour, sunrise and sunset to the minute.
Colorado Springs, CO
Wednesday, December 9, 2026 · 38.83° N, 104.82° W · times in MST
Golden hour starts at 3:56 PM.
Light is warmest in the hour or so around sunrise and sunset. That adds up to about 2 h of golden light.
Evening golden hour
3:56 PM to 4:56 PM
60 min · Sunset is at 4:37 PM.
- Sunrise
- 7:06 AM
- Sunset
- 4:37 PM
- Daylight
- 9 h 31 min
- Sunrise to sunset
- Solar noon
- 11:52 AM
- Sun at its highest
- Sun's peak height
- 28°
- Above the horizon
- Morning blue hour
- 6:25 AM to 6:48 AM
- 23 min
- Evening blue hour
- 4:56 PM to 5:18 PM
- 22 min
Golden hour isn't an hour. It's geometry.
Golden hour is the stretch when the sun sits low enough that its light travels through more air before it reaches you. That filters out blue and leaves warm, soft light with long shadows. How long it lasts depends on how steeply the sun climbs and falls where you are.
Near the equator the sun drops almost straight down, so each golden hour is only about 40 to 45 minutes. In Colorado Springs it's 50 to 60. In Seattle it's 60 to 75. In Anchorage in June it stretches past two hours, because the sun only dips a few degrees below the horizon at night.
This calculator works out the sun's position for your exact spot and date. Golden hour is when the sun is between 4 degrees below the horizon and 6 degrees above it. Blue hour is when it's 4 to 8 degrees below. Those cutoffs are a photographers' convention, and you'll see slightly different ones elsewhere.
The week ahead, so you can pick a day.
Starting Wednesday, December 9, 2026. Times in MST.
It changes more than you'd think.
Total minutes of golden hour (morning and evening together) on the 15th of each month in 2026 at Colorado Springs. It's longest in December at 2 h 1 min and shortest in March at 1 h 43 min.
The filled bar is the month you're looking at.
Knowing the time is half of it.
The other half is the sky. A cloud bank on the horizon can swallow golden hour, and a thin layer can set it on fire. Check the cloud cover and the temperature before you plan outfits and travel.
Questions
Fair questions about golden hour.
When is golden hour?
Golden hour is the stretch after sunrise and before sunset when the sun is low and the light turns warm and soft. The exact time depends on where you are and what day it is, which is why this calculator exists. Enter your city or ZIP code above and it works out the times for that date.
How long does golden hour last?
Each golden hour lasts about 40 to 45 minutes near the equator, about 50 to 60 minutes in Colorado Springs, 60 to 75 minutes in Seattle, and more than two hours in Anchorage in June. The farther you are from the equator, the longer the sun takes to climb or fall through the golden zone, so the longer it lasts.
What's the difference between golden hour and blue hour?
Golden hour happens while the sun is still up, just above the horizon, and the light is warm. Blue hour comes after sunset or before sunrise, when the sun is 4 to 8 degrees below the horizon. The light is dim, soft and cool, and the sky turns deep blue. Blue hour is shorter, and it's a good time for city lights and moody portraits.
Is golden hour different in winter?
Yes. In winter at mid-latitudes the sun stays lower all day, so soft, warm-toned light lasts longer and midday sun isn't as harsh. Days are shorter, though, so there's less time between the morning and evening windows. In Colorado Springs the two golden hours together run about 100 to 120 minutes through the year.
Does weather affect golden hour?
Yes. Thick cloud on the horizon blocks the warm light, and a fully overcast sky gives soft, even light with no gold in it. A thin or broken layer of cloud can make the sky glow. The shoot planner on this site shows cloud cover for the day, so you can check the sky before you commit to a time.
How accurate are these times?
The times come from the sun's calculated position, using the standard NOAA solar equations. I checked them against independent astronomy software for more than 2,000 sunrise, sunset and light-window times across 24 places and 10 dates, and none were off by more than about a minute. Real life adds variables the math can't see. Mountains, buildings and trees can take the sun away early, and haze changes how the light looks.
How do you define golden hour and blue hour?
There's no official definition. This calculator uses the common one: golden hour is when the sun is between 4 degrees below the horizon and 6 degrees above it, and blue hour is when the sun is between 8 and 4 degrees below. Sunrise and sunset are the standard moments when the top edge of the sun meets the horizon, adjusted for the way the atmosphere bends light.
Times are calculated from the sun's position using NOAA's solar equations, with a standard atmosphere. Hills, buildings and trees will shorten what you actually see. Time zones come from each place's location and follow the rules that were current when this tool was built. Place data: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).