Chicago's lakefront is the golden hour move: big open water means an unobstructed horizon in one direction and mirror-calm reflections on still evenings. The times below are computed live for Chicago's exact coordinates and update automatically for any date you pick.
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.
Local golden hour spot: North Avenue Beach's skyline sightline. Arrive 30 minutes before the window opens to set up, and keep shooting into blue hour — it's shorter than you think.
In Chicago, sunset ranges from 4:19 PM in December to 8:29 PM in June. Evening golden hour lasts about 42 minutes at the summer solstice and 45 minutes at the winter solstice. Times below are local to Chicago (America/Chicago).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:15 AM | 4:44 PM | 4:01 PM – 4:44 PM | 43 min | 9h 29m |
| February | 6:46 AM | 5:23 PM | 4:44 PM – 5:23 PM | 39 min | 10h 38m |
| March | 7:02 AM | 6:57 PM | 6:20 PM – 6:57 PM | 37 min | 11h 55m |
| April | 6:10 AM | 7:31 PM | 6:54 PM – 7:31 PM | 37 min | 13h 22m |
| May | 5:30 AM | 8:04 PM | 7:24 PM – 8:04 PM | 40 min | 14h 34m |
| June | 5:14 AM | 8:27 PM | 7:45 PM – 8:27 PM | 42 min | 15h 13m |
| July | 5:28 AM | 8:23 PM | 7:42 PM – 8:23 PM | 41 min | 14h 55m |
| August | 5:58 AM | 7:50 PM | 7:12 PM – 7:50 PM | 38 min | 13h 52m |
| September | 6:30 AM | 6:59 PM | 6:23 PM – 6:59 PM | 36 min | 12h 29m |
| October | 7:03 AM | 6:08 PM | 5:31 PM – 6:08 PM | 37 min | 11h 06m |
| November | 6:40 AM | 4:29 PM | 3:47 PM – 4:29 PM | 42 min | 9h 49m |
| December | 7:11 AM | 4:20 PM | 3:35 PM – 4:20 PM | 45 min | 9h 09m |
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.
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.
