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Golden Hour in Albany, NY

Whether you're shooting portraits, real estate or just chasing a good sky, this is when the light works in Albany. Every time below is computed live for Albany's coordinates and updates for any date. On this side of the country, sunrise is the underrated window — the sun comes up over the Atlantic side and morning golden hour is quieter than the evening one.

The month-by-month table below is in this city's own local time. The live times above follow your device's timezone. Mountains, ridgelines and buildings can shorten the usable window — scout your horizon.

Where to shoot it

Local tip: Reflections double golden hour: water, glass buildings and wet pavement all pick up the sky's color in the hour around sunset.

In Albany, sunset ranges from 4:21 PM in December to 8:37 PM in June. Evening golden hour lasts about 43 minutes at the summer solstice and 46 minutes at the winter solstice. Times below are local to Albany (America/New_York).

Sunrise, sunset and golden hour in Albany by month

MonthSunriseSunsetGolden hour (evening)LengthDaylight
January7:22 AM4:46 PM4:03 PM – 4:46 PM43 min9h 25m
February6:51 AM5:26 PM4:47 PM – 5:26 PM39 min10h 35m
March7:06 AM7:01 PM6:24 PM – 7:01 PM37 min11h 55m
April6:13 AM7:37 PM6:59 PM – 7:37 PM38 min13h 24m
May5:32 AM8:10 PM7:30 PM – 8:10 PM40 min14h 38m
June5:16 AM8:34 PM7:51 PM – 8:34 PM43 min15h 18m
July5:30 AM8:30 PM7:49 PM – 8:30 PM41 min15h 00m
August6:01 AM7:56 PM7:17 PM – 7:56 PM39 min13h 55m
September6:34 AM7:04 PM6:27 PM – 7:04 PM37 min12h 30m
October7:08 AM6:12 PM5:34 PM – 6:12 PM38 min11h 04m
November6:46 AM4:32 PM3:49 PM – 4:32 PM43 min9h 46m
December7:18 AM4:22 PM3:36 PM – 4:22 PM46 min9h 04m

The year at a glance

  • Earliest sunset: 4:21 PM on December 3
  • Latest sunset: 8:37 PM on June 25
  • Longest day: 15h 19m on June 21
  • Shortest day: 9h 03m on December 21
  • Golden hour length: about 43 minutes in June, 46 minutes in December
  • Time zone: America/New_York

What is golden hour?

Golden hour is the stretch just after sunrise and just before sunset, when the low sun turns hard daylight into soft, warm, directional light — the most flattering natural light for portraits, real estate, product and landscape photography. Blue hour follows sunset (and precedes sunrise): a short window of deep, even blue that's ideal for twilight real estate shots and skylines. Both windows change with latitude and season, which is why this page computes them live instead of guessing.

Chasing the light for a shoot?

Kanyon Studio is a San Diego photography and video studio — golden hour is our home field. Brand shoots, products, real estate and portraits, planned around exactly this light.