How to Plan Golden Hour Photography with Sun Tracking

What is golden hour and why photographers chase it

Golden hour is the period shortly after sunrise and before sunset when the sun sits low on the horizon and casts a warm, diffused light. This soft, directional light flatters portraits, adds depth to landscapes, and creates long, dramatic shadows that give images a sense of dimension. For photographers, it is the most sought-after natural lighting condition.

The challenge is that golden hour is brief — typically lasting between 20 and 40 minutes depending on your latitude and the time of year. In northern cities during summer, the sun sets slowly and golden hour can stretch to nearly an hour. In winter or closer to the equator, it can be over in minutes. Knowing exactly when it starts and how long it lasts at your specific location is essential for planning a successful shoot.

But timing alone is not enough. The direction and quality of light during golden hour depends on where the sun sits relative to your subject. A portrait lit from behind creates a glowing rim light effect. Side lighting emphasizes texture and depth. Front lighting bathes the subject in warm, even tones. To get the look you want, you need to know not just when golden hour happens, but where the sun will be in the sky at that moment.

How building shadows affect your golden hour shots

In urban environments, golden hour photography becomes significantly more complex. Even when the sun is at the perfect angle, buildings can block the light entirely. A location that looks ideal on a scouting visit at midday may be completely in shadow during golden hour, when the low sun disappears behind nearby structures.

Building shadows during golden hour are extremely long. Because the sun is only a few degrees above the horizon, even a modest three-story building can cast a shadow stretching 50 meters or more. In dense city centers with tall buildings, entire streets and squares can lose direct sunlight well before the actual sunset time. This means your planned golden hour shoot could end up in flat, shadowless shade — not the warm directional light you were counting on.

Understanding where building shadows fall during golden hour is especially important for portrait and street photographers. You might find a beautiful architectural backdrop, but if a building to the west blocks the setting sun, your subject will be in cold shadow while the tops of buildings behind them glow warmly. Knowing the shadow patterns lets you position yourself and your subject in the last pools of direct light, creating images with that coveted golden warmth. For a deeper look at how sun tracking helps photographers plan shoots, consider how shadow data can transform your location scouting process.

Scouting locations with sun position data

Professional photographers rarely show up to a location and hope for the best. They scout in advance, visiting potential shoot locations and visualizing how the light will behave. Traditionally, this meant multiple visits at different times of day — an expensive and time-consuming process.

Sun tracking tools change this entirely. By checking the sun position and building shadow data for any location and time, you can scout dozens of potential spots without leaving your desk. Look for locations where the golden hour sun will reach your subject without obstruction, where the light direction matches your creative vision, and where the background will be lit the way you want.

Pay special attention to openings between buildings. Gaps in the skyline — side streets, parks, waterfront areas, and open squares — create windows where low-angle sunlight can reach street level even in dense urban areas. These natural light corridors are goldmines for golden hour photography. A narrow alley opening to the west, for example, can channel the setting sun into a beam of warm light that illuminates a small area while everything around it sits in shadow. These are the kinds of dramatic lighting situations that make compelling photographs.

Also consider elevation. Rooftops, bridges, elevated terraces, and hillside locations stay in direct sunlight longer than street-level spots because they are above the shadow line cast by surrounding buildings. If you are curious about how the sun reaches different surfaces at different times, the same principles apply to photography locations.

Planning around seasons and weather

The sun's path changes dramatically across seasons, and this has a major impact on golden hour photography. In midsummer in Northern Europe, the sun sets in the northwest, creating golden hour light that comes from a very different direction than in winter, when it sets in the southwest. This means the same location can offer completely different lighting depending on the month.

Summer golden hours tend to have a warmer, more amber quality because the sun passes through more atmosphere at the longer wavelengths. The light is also softer and lasts longer as the sun takes a more gradual path to the horizon. Winter golden hours are shorter but can produce incredibly dramatic light — the sun stays low all day, so you get near-golden-hour quality for extended periods around sunrise and sunset.

Seasonal changes also affect building shadows. A location that works perfectly for golden hour shoots in July might be completely blocked by building shadows in October as the sun's arc drops lower. Check your planned locations across different months to understand their seasonal range. Some spots are year-round gems, while others have a narrow window of usability.

Cloud cover adds another variable. Partly cloudy skies during golden hour can produce spectacular results as clouds catch and scatter the warm light. Overcast skies eliminate golden hour entirely. Check weather forecasts in the days leading up to your shoot, but always have backup locations ready — weather during golden hour can change rapidly.

Using Coffee in the Sun to plan your shoots

Coffee in the Sun gives photographers a practical tool for golden hour planning. The app shows real-time building shadows on the map, so you can see exactly which areas are in direct sunlight and which are in shade at any given moment. More importantly, the Time Travel feature lets you check the shadow situation for any time and date — including the golden hour window on your planned shoot day.

To plan a golden hour shoot, set the time to approximately 30 to 60 minutes before sunset for your location and date. Then look at the shadow map to find areas that still have direct sunlight. These are your potential shoot locations. Scrub through the timeline to see how quickly shadows advance and identify the window of usable light at each spot.

You can also scout multiple locations quickly by panning across the map. Compare how much golden hour light reaches different streets, squares, and open areas. Look for those gaps between buildings where light streams through, and note the exact times when specific spots transition from sun to shade. With this information, you can build a shot list with precise timing — starting at one location and moving to the next as shadows advance, maximizing your time in the golden light. Being able to identify the sunniest spots in any city is just as valuable for photographers as it is for anyone seeking the sun.