Whether you're shooting portraits, real estate or just chasing a good sky, this is when the light works in Modesto. Every time below is computed live for Modesto's coordinates and updates for any date. With a west-facing coastline nearby, evenings are the show — the sun drops toward the Pacific and the last hour of light runs warm and long.
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: Don't pack up at sunset — blue hour starts right after, and the 20 minutes of deep-blue sky with city lights on is the most underrated window of the day.
In Modesto, sunset ranges from 4:45 PM in November to 8:29 PM in June. Every time on this page is calculated for Modesto's coordinates (37.6391, -120.9969) and shown in America/Los_Angeles.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:17 AM | 5:09 PM | 4:29 PM – 5:09 PM | 40 min | 9h 52m |
| February | 6:53 AM | 5:43 PM | 5:07 PM – 5:43 PM | 36 min | 10h 50m |
| March | 7:14 AM | 7:11 PM | 6:36 PM – 7:11 PM | 35 min | 11h 57m |
| April | 6:28 AM | 7:39 PM | 7:04 PM – 7:39 PM | 35 min | 13h 11m |
| May | 5:54 AM | 8:06 PM | 7:29 PM – 8:06 PM | 37 min | 14h 13m |
| June | 5:41 AM | 8:27 PM | 7:48 PM – 8:27 PM | 39 min | 14h 45m |
| July | 5:54 AM | 8:25 PM | 7:46 PM – 8:25 PM | 39 min | 14h 30m |
| August | 6:19 AM | 7:56 PM | 7:20 PM – 7:56 PM | 36 min | 13h 36m |
| September | 6:46 AM | 7:11 PM | 6:36 PM – 7:11 PM | 35 min | 12h 25m |
| October | 7:12 AM | 6:26 PM | 5:50 PM – 6:26 PM | 36 min | 11h 14m |
| November | 6:44 AM | 4:52 PM | 4:14 PM – 4:52 PM | 38 min | 10h 09m |
| December | 7:11 AM | 4:46 PM | 4:05 PM – 4:46 PM | 41 min | 9h 35m |
Golden hour is not the same length all year in Modesto. It is longest in December at about 41 minutes and shortest in March at about 35 minutes — a difference of 6 minutes of usable warm light per evening.
Modesto gets 5h 10m more daylight on the longest day than the shortest. Sunset moves from 4:46 PM in December to 8:27 PM in June, so an evening shoot that works in summer will be shooting in the dark at the same clock time in winter.
Blue hour follows sunset and is worth planning for separately: in June it runs until about 8:58 PM, and in December until about 5:15 PM.
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.
