Soft-light calculator
Calculate morning and evening golden-hour windows, sun direction, and solar altitude for any location and date.
Calculator controls
Search by address, place, district, or city.
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
-27.4698°, 153.0251°
Calculated result
2026-09-02 · Australia/Brisbane
Morning golden hour
06:02–06:33
Evening golden hour
17:04–17:36
The CSV records the current location, date, timezone, model identifier, and every result shown for this calculator. It excludes raw geocoding-provider payloads.
Directional field plan
This calculator defines morning golden hour as sunrise to +6° altitude and evening golden hour as +6° altitude to sunset. The fixed winter and summer examples show why both timing and camera direction change by season.
| Season | Window | Time | Start bearing | End bearing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter solstice · 21 Jun | Morning | 06:38–07:13 | 63.7° North-east | 59.5° North-east |
| Winter solstice · 21 Jun | Evening | 16:27–17:02 | 300.2° North-west | 296.1° North-west |
| Summer solstice · 21 Dec | Morning | 04:50–05:24 | 117.0° South-east | 113.2° South-east |
| Summer solstice · 21 Dec | Evening | 18:09–18:43 | 246.6° South-west | 242.8° South-west |
Interpretation
The displayed window gives the astronomical start and end, while the boundary azimuths show where the Sun sits on the compass. Use both when choosing a camera angle or deciding which side of a property will receive low-angle light.
A west-facing subject may suit the evening window, while an east-facing subject is more likely to receive direct morning light.
The main sun-path map classifies each whole hour between 0 and 6 degrees altitude as an approximate golden condition. This dedicated calculator uses SunCalc event boundaries to report precise timestamps.
The altitude chart provides the wider daily context so the low-angle window is not interpreted in isolation.
The calculation does not know whether a hill, tree, tower, or neighbouring building blocks the horizon. Weather and atmospheric clarity also change colour and contrast.
Use the result to shortlist a window, then check the location and forecast before committing a shoot or inspection.
Questions
It uses SunCalc’s astronomical window from sunrise to a solar altitude of 6 degrees in the morning, and from 6 degrees down to sunset in the evening.
No. Cloud, haze, terrain, nearby buildings, surface colour, and camera exposure all affect the visible result. The calculated window describes solar geometry only.
Timing alone cannot tell you which facade or landscape will receive direct light. Azimuth shows the compass direction at the beginning and end of each window.