In Richmond, head for the water — the river turns golden hour into a mirror, and the bridges silhouette beautifully against the afterglow. Wind usually drops near sunset, flattening reflections. The times below are computed live for Richmond'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: Libby Hill's famous river bend view. Arrive 30 minutes before the window opens to set up, and keep shooting into blue hour — it's shorter than you think.
In Richmond, sunset ranges from 4:51 PM in November to 8:35 PM in June. Evening golden hour lasts about 39 minutes at the summer solstice and 41 minutes at the winter solstice. Times below are local to Richmond (America/New_York).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:23 AM | 5:15 PM | 4:35 PM – 5:15 PM | 40 min | 9h 52m |
| February | 6:58 AM | 5:49 PM | 5:12 PM – 5:49 PM | 37 min | 10h 50m |
| March | 7:20 AM | 7:17 PM | 6:42 PM – 7:17 PM | 35 min | 11h 56m |
| April | 6:34 AM | 7:45 PM | 7:10 PM – 7:45 PM | 35 min | 13h 10m |
| May | 6:00 AM | 8:12 PM | 7:35 PM – 8:12 PM | 37 min | 14h 12m |
| June | 5:48 AM | 8:32 PM | 7:53 PM – 8:32 PM | 39 min | 14h 45m |
| July | 6:00 AM | 8:30 PM | 7:52 PM – 8:30 PM | 38 min | 14h 30m |
| August | 6:25 AM | 8:02 PM | 7:26 PM – 8:02 PM | 36 min | 13h 36m |
| September | 6:51 AM | 7:17 PM | 6:42 PM – 7:17 PM | 35 min | 12h 26m |
| October | 7:18 AM | 6:32 PM | 5:57 PM – 6:32 PM | 35 min | 11h 14m |
| November | 6:49 AM | 4:58 PM | 4:20 PM – 4:58 PM | 38 min | 10h 09m |
| December | 7:17 AM | 4:52 PM | 4:11 PM – 4:52 PM | 41 min | 9h 35m |
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.
