Portland looks east over the Atlantic, so sunrise is the secret weapon here: golden hour starts over open water with almost nobody on the beach. Evenings still glow, but mornings are the show. The times below are computed live for Portland'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: Portland Head Light at Cape Elizabeth. Arrive 30 minutes before the window opens to set up, and keep shooting into blue hour — it's shorter than you think.
In Portland, sunset ranges from 4:03 PM in December to 8:26 PM in June. All times local to Portland (America/New_York).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:11 AM | 4:29 PM | 3:44 PM – 4:29 PM | 45 min | 9h 19m |
| February | 6:39 AM | 5:11 PM | 4:31 PM – 5:11 PM | 40 min | 10h 32m |
| March | 6:53 AM | 6:47 PM | 6:09 PM – 6:47 PM | 38 min | 11h 54m |
| April | 5:58 AM | 7:24 PM | 6:46 PM – 7:24 PM | 38 min | 13h 26m |
| May | 5:15 AM | 7:59 PM | 7:18 PM – 7:59 PM | 41 min | 14h 44m |
| June | 4:58 AM | 8:24 PM | 7:40 PM – 8:24 PM | 44 min | 15h 26m |
| July | 5:13 AM | 8:20 PM | 7:37 PM – 8:20 PM | 43 min | 15h 07m |
| August | 5:45 AM | 7:44 PM | 7:05 PM – 7:44 PM | 39 min | 13h 59m |
| September | 6:20 AM | 6:51 PM | 6:13 PM – 6:51 PM | 38 min | 12h 31m |
| October | 6:55 AM | 5:57 PM | 5:18 PM – 5:57 PM | 39 min | 11h 02m |
| November | 6:35 AM | 4:15 PM | 3:32 PM – 4:15 PM | 43 min | 9h 40m |
| December | 7:07 AM | 4:04 PM | 3:17 PM – 4:04 PM | 47 min | 8h 57m |
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.
