With a great lake horizon, Madison gets long, unobstructed golden light off the water — and blue hour over a lake is one of photography's most reliable free special effects. The times below are computed live for Madison'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: the Memorial Union Terrace on Lake Mendota. Arrive 30 minutes before the window opens to set up, and keep shooting into blue hour — it's shorter than you think.
In Madison, sunset ranges from 4:22 PM in December to 8:41 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 Madison (America/Chicago).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:26 AM | 4:48 PM | 4:03 PM – 4:48 PM | 45 min | 9h 22m |
| February | 6:55 AM | 5:28 PM | 4:49 PM – 5:28 PM | 39 min | 10h 34m |
| March | 7:09 AM | 7:04 PM | 6:26 PM – 7:04 PM | 38 min | 11h 55m |
| April | 6:15 AM | 7:40 PM | 7:02 PM – 7:40 PM | 38 min | 13h 25m |
| May | 5:34 AM | 8:14 PM | 7:33 PM – 8:14 PM | 41 min | 14h 40m |
| June | 5:17 AM | 8:38 PM | 7:55 PM – 8:38 PM | 43 min | 15h 21m |
| July | 5:31 AM | 8:34 PM | 7:52 PM – 8:34 PM | 42 min | 15h 03m |
| August | 6:03 AM | 7:59 PM | 7:20 PM – 7:59 PM | 39 min | 13h 56m |
| September | 6:37 AM | 7:07 PM | 6:29 PM – 7:07 PM | 38 min | 12h 30m |
| October | 7:11 AM | 6:14 PM | 5:36 PM – 6:14 PM | 38 min | 11h 03m |
| November | 6:50 AM | 4:33 PM | 3:50 PM – 4:33 PM | 43 min | 9h 43m |
| December | 7:22 AM | 4:23 PM | 3:37 PM – 4:23 PM | 46 min | 9h 01m |
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.
