Next usable light
Charleston
7:18 PM – 8:07 PM
Solar noonDaytime66.9° · 181° S
Light windows
Fri, Aug 28 · America · New YorkMorning
- Golden hour
- 6:37 AM – 7:26 AM48 min of warm light
- Blue hour
- 6:27 AM – 6:37 AM10 min of deep blue twilight
Evening
- Golden hour
- 7:18 PM – 8:07 PM48 min of warm light
- Blue hour
- 8:07 PM – 8:17 PM10 min of deep blue twilight
- Sunrise
- 6:53 AM
- Sunset
- 7:51 PM
- Day length
- 12 hr 59 min
- Solar noon
- 1:22 PM
Where to point the camera
Solar path and bearing
On this selected date, the sun reaches 67° at its highest point and the evening light approaches from 282° WNW.
Pick the month before the day
Light through 2026 in Charleston
Plan around the season: Charleston's sampled golden window stretches to 54 min in June and compresses to 48 min by March. Check the bearing column before trusting a remembered spot: sunset lands at 243° WSW in December but 299° WNW in June, a 56° shift. June days run 14 hr 18 min; by December they shrink to 10 hr.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Golden window sample | Sunset bearing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:23 AM | 5:37 PM | 10 hr 14 min | 5:00 PM · 53 min | 245° WSW |
| February | 7:04 AM | 6:06 PM | 11 hr 2 min | 5:32 PM · 49 min | 256° WSW |
| March | 7:31 AM | 7:28 PM | 11 hr 57 min | 6:55 PM · 48 min | 268° W |
| April | 6:51 AM | 7:50 PM | 12 hr 59 min | 7:17 PM · 48 min | 282° WNW |
| May | 6:22 AM | 8:12 PM | 13 hr 50 min | 7:37 PM · 51 min | 293° WNW |
| June | 6:12 AM | 8:30 PM | 14 hr 18 min | 7:54 PM · 54 min | 299° WNW |
| July | 6:23 AM | 8:29 PM | 14 hr 6 min | 7:54 PM · 53 min | 297° WNW |
| August | 6:44 AM | 8:06 PM | 13 hr 22 min | 7:33 PM · 50 min | 287° WNW |
| September | 7:04 AM | 7:28 PM | 12 hr 23 min | 6:55 PM · 48 min | 274° W |
| October | 7:24 AM | 6:48 PM | 11 hr 24 min | 6:15 PM · 48 min | 260° W |
| November | 6:51 AM | 5:20 PM | 10 hr 29 min | 4:44 PM · 52 min | 249° WSW |
| December | 7:16 AM | 5:16 PM | 10 hr | 4:38 PM · 54 min | 243° WSW |
Find the months when sunset faces your spot
Pick the direction your subject faces the sky. Months whose sunset lands within ±10° light up in the table above. Disabled shortcuts have no matching row in this visible mid-month sample.
Each row samples the 15th of the month at these coordinates, so dates near a month boundary can differ from the printed row — around here day length moves up to ~2 min per day in the fastest season. Clock times follow America · New York, including any daylight-saving change.
Full light and twilight schedule
Midnight to midnight
| Phase | Time |
|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 5:27 AM |
| Nautical dawn | 5:57 AM |
| Blue hour (morning) | 6:27 AM |
| Golden hour (morning) | 6:37 AM |
| Sunrise | 6:53 AM |
| Solar noon | 1:22 PM |
| Sunset | 7:51 PM |
| Golden hour (evening) | 7:18 PM |
| Blue hour (evening) | 8:07 PM |
| Nautical dusk | 8:47 PM |
| Astronomical dusk | 9:17 PM |
Seven local days in Charleston
The week ahead
| Date | Morning golden | Sunrise | Sunset | Evening golden |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Aug 28 | 6:37 AM – 7:26 AM | 6:53 AM | 7:51 PM | 7:18 PM – 8:07 PM |
| Sat, Aug 29 | 6:38 AM – 7:26 AM | 6:53 AM | 7:50 PM | 7:17 PM – 8:05 PM |
| Sun, Aug 30 | 6:39 AM – 7:27 AM | 6:54 AM | 7:49 PM | 7:16 PM – 8:04 PM |
| Mon, Aug 31 | 6:39 AM – 7:28 AM | 6:55 AM | 7:48 PM | 7:15 PM – 8:03 PM |
| Tue, Sep 1 | 6:40 AM – 7:28 AM | 6:55 AM | 7:46 PM | 7:13 PM – 8:02 PM |
| Wed, Sep 2 | 6:41 AM – 7:29 AM | 6:56 AM | 7:45 PM | 7:12 PM – 8:00 PM |
| Thu, Sep 3 | 6:41 AM – 7:29 AM | 6:57 AM | 7:44 PM | 7:11 PM – 7:59 PM |
Moon and candidate vantage points
Context to verify
Moon on the selected date
The moon over Charleston is a Full Moon, 100% lit. Treat this as lighting context, not a visibility forecast.
Candidate vantage points
The list supplies map-search starting points, not ranked recommendations. Confirm access, closures, permits, safety, and horizon obstructions yourself before setting out. For the selected date, the mathematical sunset bearing is 282° WNW. If the composition faces differently, use the bearing planner in the month table above to identify sampled months; the result remains a planning aid and does not prove visibility.
Plan and calculation notes
Assumptions and limits
Plan this specific light
In Charleston, the evening golden hour window runs 48 min on the selected date and approaches from 282° WNW. Arrive 15 minutes before its start when that window occurs, then choose a position with an open view toward that bearing. Don't rely on the generic “one hour before sunset” rule here — the real window shifts with the season, so check the computed times for your date.
See the calculation method and limits before relying on the estimate in terrain-sensitive or safety-critical conditions.
Common questions
Golden hour FAQ for Charleston
- When is golden hour in Charleston?
- Charleston has no fixed golden-hour clock time. The usable band begins at +6° and continues through −4°, enclosing sunrise in the morning and sunset in the evening; its representative monthly duration is 48 minutes in March and 54 minutes in June. Use the date control above for the exact boundaries of the day you will shoot.
- Which direction does the sun set in Charleston?
- There is no single answer — over the year the sunset point travels 56° along Charleston's horizon, between 243° WSW (December) and 299° WNW (June). The month table above lists the bearing for each month, and the sun-path panel computes it per date.
- How much does day length change in Charleston?
- Charleston's swing is 4 hr 18 min: December bottoms out around 10 hr of daylight while June peaks near 14 hr 18 min. Each month's numbers are in the table above.
- Does Charleston get blue hour right after golden hour?
- Yes — they are adjacent bands of the same descent: golden hour spans +6° to −4° of solar altitude and blue hour continues from −4° to −6°. In Charleston, the representative June golden window lasts 54 min; on ordinary dates evening blue begins when its evening side ends, while polar dates can merge or wrap overnight. The light-windows panel above computes both for any date.