Great light in Mission isn't luck — it's timing. This page calculates today's sunset, sunrise, golden hour and blue hour for Mission's exact location, live, and works for any date you choose. Note the times below account for Mission's latitude — golden hour runs longer in winter and shorter at midsummer than most charts assume.
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 tip: Shoot with the sun behind your subject during golden hour and expose for the face — the rim light does the rest.
In Mission, sunset ranges from 5:40 PM in November to 8:29 PM in June. Evening golden hour lasts about 34 minutes at the summer solstice and 34 minutes at the winter solstice. Times below are local to Mission (America/Chicago).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:22 AM | 6:03 PM | 5:29 PM – 6:03 PM | 34 min | 10h 41m |
| February | 7:08 AM | 6:26 PM | 5:54 PM – 6:26 PM | 32 min | 11h 18m |
| March | 7:42 AM | 7:42 PM | 7:11 PM – 7:42 PM | 31 min | 12h 00m |
| April | 7:09 AM | 7:57 PM | 7:26 PM – 7:57 PM | 31 min | 12h 47m |
| May | 6:46 AM | 8:12 PM | 7:40 PM – 8:12 PM | 32 min | 13h 26m |
| June | 6:40 AM | 8:27 PM | 7:53 PM – 8:27 PM | 34 min | 13h 47m |
| July | 6:50 AM | 8:27 PM | 7:54 PM – 8:27 PM | 33 min | 13h 37m |
| August | 7:05 AM | 8:09 PM | 7:37 PM – 8:09 PM | 32 min | 13h 03m |
| September | 7:19 AM | 7:37 PM | 7:06 PM – 7:37 PM | 31 min | 12h 18m |
| October | 7:32 AM | 7:05 PM | 6:34 PM – 7:05 PM | 31 min | 11h 33m |
| November | 6:52 AM | 5:43 PM | 5:10 PM – 5:43 PM | 33 min | 10h 52m |
| December | 7:13 AM | 5:43 PM | 5:09 PM – 5:43 PM | 34 min | 10h 31m |
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.
