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Golden Hour in Thousand Oaks, CA

Whether you're shooting portraits, real estate or just chasing a good sky, this is when the light works in Thousand Oaks. Every time below is computed live for Thousand Oaks'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.

Where to shoot it

Local tip: Arrive 30 minutes before the golden hour window opens. Setup always takes longer than planned, and the first ten minutes of good light are often the best.

In Thousand Oaks, sunset ranges from 4:45 PM in November to 8:11 PM in June. Evening golden hour lasts about 37 minutes at the summer solstice and 39 minutes at the winter solstice. Times below are local to Thousand Oaks (America/Los_Angeles).

Sunrise, sunset and golden hour in Thousand Oaks by month

MonthSunriseSunsetGolden hour (evening)LengthDaylight
January7:00 AM5:09 PM4:31 PM – 5:09 PM38 min10h 08m
February6:40 AM5:39 PM5:04 PM – 5:39 PM35 min10h 59m
March7:05 AM7:03 PM6:30 PM – 7:03 PM33 min11h 58m
April6:24 AM7:27 PM6:53 PM – 7:27 PM34 min13h 03m
May5:53 AM7:50 PM7:14 PM – 7:50 PM36 min13h 57m
June5:43 AM8:08 PM7:31 PM – 8:08 PM37 min14h 26m
July5:54 AM8:07 PM7:31 PM – 8:07 PM36 min14h 13m
August6:16 AM7:42 PM7:08 PM – 7:42 PM34 min13h 25m
September6:38 AM7:01 PM6:28 PM – 7:01 PM33 min12h 23m
October7:00 AM6:20 PM5:47 PM – 6:20 PM33 min11h 20m
November6:28 AM4:51 PM4:14 PM – 4:51 PM37 min10h 23m
December6:53 AM4:47 PM4:08 PM – 4:47 PM39 min9h 53m

The year at a glance

  • Earliest sunset: 4:45 PM on November 29
  • Latest sunset: 8:11 PM on June 26
  • Longest day: 14h 26m on June 21
  • Shortest day: 9h 52m on December 21
  • Golden hour length: about 37 minutes in June, 39 minutes in December
  • Time zone: America/Los_Angeles

What is golden hour?

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.

Chasing the light for a shoot?

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.