The difference between a flat photo and a glowing one in San Marcos is usually forty-five minutes. The calculator below shows exactly which forty-five minutes — today's sunset, sunrise, golden and blue hour, live. 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: Shoot with the sun behind your subject during golden hour and expose for the face — the rim light does the rest.
In San Marcos, sunset ranges from 4:41 PM in November to 8:01 PM in June. Evening golden hour lasts about 37 minutes at the summer solstice and 38 minutes at the winter solstice. Times below are local to San Marcos (America/Los_Angeles).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6:51 AM | 5:04 PM | 4:27 PM – 5:04 PM | 37 min | 10h 13m |
| February | 6:32 AM | 5:33 PM | 4:59 PM – 5:33 PM | 34 min | 11h 02m |
| March | 6:58 AM | 6:56 PM | 6:23 PM – 6:56 PM | 33 min | 11h 58m |
| April | 6:18 AM | 7:19 PM | 6:46 PM – 7:19 PM | 33 min | 13h 01m |
| May | 5:48 AM | 7:41 PM | 7:06 PM – 7:41 PM | 35 min | 13h 53m |
| June | 5:39 AM | 7:59 PM | 7:22 PM – 7:59 PM | 37 min | 14h 20m |
| July | 5:50 AM | 7:58 PM | 7:22 PM – 7:58 PM | 36 min | 14h 08m |
| August | 6:11 AM | 7:34 PM | 7:00 PM – 7:34 PM | 34 min | 13h 22m |
| September | 6:32 AM | 6:54 PM | 6:22 PM – 6:54 PM | 32 min | 12h 22m |
| October | 6:53 AM | 6:15 PM | 5:41 PM – 6:15 PM | 34 min | 11h 22m |
| November | 6:19 AM | 4:46 PM | 4:10 PM – 4:46 PM | 36 min | 10h 27m |
| December | 6:44 AM | 4:43 PM | 4:05 PM – 4:43 PM | 38 min | 9h 59m |
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.
