How long is golden hour for landscape photography?

In the countdown, evening golden hour runs from the sun at 6° above the horizon down to sunset (in the morning, from sunrise up to 6°). That is about 30 minutes at the equator, roughly 40-60 minutes between 40° and 52° north, and longer in high-latitude summer.

Is blue hour before sunrise or after sunset?

Both. It is civil twilight, the period when the sun is between the horizon and 6° below it, before sunrise and again after sunset. The countdown shows whichever window comes next.

← Back

Golden & Blue Hour Countdown for Landscape Photography

For landscape work the countdown is a pacing tool: it tells you whether there is time to walk to the next viewpoint or whether to set up where you stand. The windows are shorter than the name suggests — about 50 minutes of golden hour on the Dorset coast in mid-November, about 30 minutes at the equator.

Open the Golden & Blue Hour Countdown

Recommended settings

Sunrise shoots start at blue hour, not at sunrise: the countdown's morning blue hour begins at civil dawn, when the sun is 6° below the horizon, and runs to sunrise. Be on location with the tripod up before it starts.
Blue hour exposures: tripod, base ISO, f/8-f/11. Shutter speeds of several seconds up to 30 seconds are normal as the light fades, and they smooth moving water at the same time.
Golden hour towards the sun: bracket three to five frames one to two stops apart, or hold the sky back with a soft 2-3 stop graduated ND. A low sun over a shadowed foreground usually exceeds what one exposure can record.
White balance: shoot raw and set a fixed Daylight white balance, so the warm golden-hour frames and the cool blue-hour frames keep their real contrast instead of being averaged out by Auto.

Tips for this niche

Turn round during civil twilight. Opposite the sun, the Earth's shadow rises as a dark blue band above the horizon with the pink Belt of Venus above it — a subject for the side of the scene the sun isn't on.
First light reaches high ground before the valley floor: peaks and cliff tops turn warm just after sunrise while the foreground is still in shade, so compose for the high subject first and widen out as the light comes down.
Latitude changes the window completely. In Lofoten on 20 August the evening golden hour lasts about 84 minutes and blue hour as long again; on 21 June the sun doesn't set there at all, and the countdown reports no window.
The countdown computes the sun's geometry, not the weather. For a colourful sky, look for gaps along the horizon on the sun's side in the forecast — low light has to reach the clouds from underneath.

Got your Landscape settings dialed in?

Turn your landscape shoot into ready-to-post captions, hashtags and matching audio — free to try, no signup.

Want the full lesson?

This topic is covered in depth in Lesson 6: Shooting for a Genre.

Example scenario

Durdle Door, Dorset, on 14 November 2026, worked out with the same sun calculation the countdown uses: blue hour from 06:47, sunrise at 07:23 on a bearing of about 119° (south-east), golden hour until 08:14. Being on location by 06:30 leaves time to set up for long exposures of the surf under the blue pre-dawn sky, at ISO 100 and f/11 with exposures of several seconds. From 07:23 there are about 50 minutes of low, warm light before the sun climbs past 6°; with the sun low on the horizon, bracket three frames two stops apart. If cloud sits on the horizon at sunrise, the countdown shows how much of the window is left for a gap to open.

Common mistakes

Arriving at sunrise time. by then the morning blue hour is over. On the Dorset coast in mid-November civil dawn comes 36 minutes before sunrise, and that is when the pre-dawn colour happens.
Packing up when the sun sets. the countdown's evening blue hour follows straight away and lasts roughly 30-50 minutes at mid-latitudes — the window for long exposures of water, coastlines and lit towns.
Planning around a fixed 'golden hour = 60 minutes'. it is about 30 minutes near the equator, roughly 40-60 minutes between 40° and 52° north depending on the season, and well over an hour in high-latitude summer. Read the countdown for where you are.

FAQ

How long is golden hour for landscape photography?: In the countdown, evening golden hour runs from the sun at 6° above the horizon down to sunset (in the morning, from sunrise up to 6°). That is about 30 minutes at the equator, roughly 40-60 minutes between 40° and 52° north, and longer in high-latitude summer.
Is blue hour before sunrise or after sunset?: Both. It is civil twilight, the period when the sun is between the horizon and 6° below it, before sunrise and again after sunset. The countdown shows whichever window comes next.

Guides for this tool, by niche

Golden & Blue Hour Countdown for Wedding Photography Golden & Blue Hour Countdown for Portrait Photography Golden & Blue Hour Countdown for Travel Photography Golden & Blue Hour Countdown for Architecture Photography Golden & Blue Hour Countdown for Drone Photography

Related terms

What Is Golden Hour?What Is Blue Hour?

Troubleshooting

Why Did I Miss the Best Part of Golden Hour?

Before the shoot

Landscape Photography shot list