Sun & light planner

Golden hour in Sydney

In mid-June golden hour in Sydney starts at 16:16 and lasts 38 minutes; in mid-December it starts at 19:26 and lasts 37. The tool is set to Sydney — pick your shoot date.

In Sydney the evening golden hour starts at 16:16 in mid-June (38 min) and at 19:26 in mid-December (37 min). Pick a date for the exact day.
—
Or drag across the day chart.
—
A row of buildings or a hill: about 5° for a four-storey block 100 m away.
Exact coordinates

Australia/Sydney

  • golden (sun 6° to −0.8°)
  • dusk (−0.8° to −4°)
  • blue (−4° to −6°)
  • night
  • sun altitude
Golden hour, evening
—
Blue hour, evening
—
Golden hour, morning
—
Sunrise
—
Sunset
—
Daylight
—
Sun sets toward
—
Highest sun
—
Sun at chosen time
—
Shadow of a 1.80 m person
—
Drag the map to place the spot exactly
© OpenStreetMap · dashed: sunrise · solid: sunset · yellow: sun now · dark: shadow
Plan this shoot day in TillyBoard

Runs in your browser. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

Golden hour in Sydney, month by month

The evening window in Sydney is longest in June (38 minutes) and shortest in March (33 minutes). Values for the 15th of each month, local time, daylight saving included.

Sydney, 2026: sun times on the 15th (Australia/Sydney)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden hour, eveningLengthBlue hour untilDaylight
January06:0020:1019:34–20:1036 min20:3814 h 10 min
February06:3119:5019:16–19:5034 min20:1613 h 19 min
March06:5519:1618:43–19:1633 min19:4112 h 21 min
April06:1817:3417:00–17:3434 min17:5911 h 16 min
May06:4117:0416:28–17:0436 min17:3110 h 23 min
June06:5916:5416:16–16:5438 min17:219 h 55 min
July06:5917:0416:27–17:0437 min17:3210 h 06 min
August06:3617:2616:51–17:2635 min17:5110 h 50 min
September05:5617:4717:14–17:4733 min18:1211 h 51 min
October06:1519:0818:35–19:0833 min19:3412 h 53 min
November05:4519:3619:01–19:3635 min20:0413 h 51 min
December05:3920:0219:26–20:0237 min20:3214 h 23 min

Where the sun goes down

Around the December solstice the sun sets in Sydney at 241° (WSW), around the June solstice at 299° (WNW) — 58° apart. A façade that gets backlight at the end of a summer day is lit from the side in winter, and a street that frames the sunset in January may not see it at all in July.

The highest sun of the year stands at 80° at noon, the lowest at 33°. Below about 15° the light turns warm and the shadows long enough to shape a face; the day chart in the tool shows when the sun crosses that line on your date.

Clock changes

Australia/Sydney changes the clocks on 5 April and 4 October 2026. On those dates every time in the table jumps by an hour overnight — a schedule copied from the week before the change puts the exterior an hour into the dark (or an hour too early).

Filming in Sydney: permits

Shoots on public ground in Sydney need a permit from the local authority (listed source: cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au / screen.nsw.gov.au). If a golden-hour setup sits on public space, apply for a weather cover day at the same time — the light will not wait for the paperwork.

As of 2026-08

Frequently asked

When does golden hour start in Sydney today?

The tool above opens on today’s date for Sydney. As a guide: in mid-June it starts at 16:16, in mid-December at 19:26.

How long is golden hour in Sydney?

Between 33 minutes (March) and 38 minutes (June) in the evening, measured from 6° sun altitude to sunset.

Does a building to the west change this?

Yes. Set the obstruction slider to its angle: a four-storey building 100 m away is about 5° and ends direct sun noticeably before sunset. The tool shows how many minutes you lose.