Next usable light
Edinburgh
7:30 PM – 8:45 PM
Solar noonDaytime43.8° · 180° S
Light windows
Fri, Aug 28 · Europe · LondonMorning
- Golden hour
- 5:45 AM – 7:00 AM1 hr 15 min of warm light
- Blue hour
- 5:30 AM – 5:45 AM16 min of deep blue twilight
Evening
- Golden hour
- 7:30 PM – 8:45 PM1 hr 15 min of warm light
- Blue hour
- 8:45 PM – 9:01 PM16 min of deep blue twilight
- Sunrise
- 6:10 AM
- Sunset
- 8:20 PM
- Day length
- 14 hr 11 min
- Solar noon
- 1:15 PM
Where to point the camera
Solar path and bearing
On this selected date, the sun reaches 44° at its highest point and the evening light approaches from 289° WNW.
Pick the month before the day
Light through 2026 in Edinburgh
December is the generous sample in Edinburgh — 1 hr 48 min of golden light — while March tightens the window to about 1 hr 12 min. Between December and June the sunset point migrates 90° — from 227° SW to 317° NW — which is enough to put a fixed foreground in or out of the light depending on the season. June days run 17 hr 34 min; by December they shrink to 7 hr 1 min.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Golden window sample | Sunset bearing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 8:35 AM | 4:11 PM | 7 hr 36 min | 3:00 PM · 1 hr 38 min | 232° SW |
| February | 7:39 AM | 5:16 PM | 9 hr 37 min | 4:21 PM · 1 hr 19 min | 248° WSW |
| March | 6:30 AM | 6:16 PM | 11 hr 46 min | 5:26 PM · 1 hr 12 min | 268° W |
| April | 6:08 AM | 8:18 PM | 14 hr 10 min | 7:28 PM · 1 hr 15 min | 289° WNW |
| May | 5:01 AM | 9:19 PM | 16 hr 17 min | 8:22 PM · 1 hr 26 min | 307° NW |
| June | 4:27 AM | 10:01 PM | 17 hr 34 min | 8:57 PM · 1 hr 40 min | 317° NW |
| July | 4:48 AM | 9:50 PM | 17 hr 2 min | 8:50 PM · 1 hr 33 min | 313° NW |
| August | 5:44 AM | 8:52 PM | 15 hr 8 min | 7:59 PM · 1 hr 19 min | 297° WNW |
| September | 6:45 AM | 7:33 PM | 12 hr 49 min | 6:44 PM · 1 hr 12 min | 277° W |
| October | 7:44 AM | 6:15 PM | 10 hr 31 min | 5:23 PM · 1 hr 15 min | 256° WSW |
| November | 7:49 AM | 4:07 PM | 8 hr 18 min | 3:04 PM · 1 hr 30 min | 237° WSW |
| December | 8:38 AM | 3:39 PM | 7 hr 1 min | 2:20 PM · 1 hr 48 min | 227° SW |
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 ~5 min per day in the fastest season. Clock times follow Europe · London, including any daylight-saving change.
Full light and twilight schedule
Midnight to midnight
| Phase | Time |
|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 3:37 AM |
| Nautical dawn | 4:38 AM |
| Blue hour (morning) | 5:30 AM |
| Golden hour (morning) | 5:45 AM |
| Sunrise | 6:10 AM |
| Solar noon | 1:15 PM |
| Sunset | 8:20 PM |
| Golden hour (evening) | 7:30 PM |
| Blue hour (evening) | 8:45 PM |
| Nautical dusk | 9:52 PM |
| Astronomical dusk | 10:53 PM |
Seven local days in Edinburgh
The week ahead
| Date | Morning golden | Sunrise | Sunset | Evening golden |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Aug 28 | 5:45 AM – 7:00 AM | 6:10 AM | 8:20 PM | 7:30 PM – 8:45 PM |
| Sat, Aug 29 | 5:48 AM – 7:02 AM | 6:12 AM | 8:18 PM | 7:28 PM – 8:42 PM |
| Sun, Aug 30 | 5:50 AM – 7:04 AM | 6:14 AM | 8:15 PM | 7:25 PM – 8:39 PM |
| Mon, Aug 31 | 5:52 AM – 7:06 AM | 6:16 AM | 8:13 PM | 7:23 PM – 8:37 PM |
| Tue, Sep 1 | 5:54 AM – 7:07 AM | 6:18 AM | 8:10 PM | 7:20 PM – 8:34 PM |
| Wed, Sep 2 | 5:56 AM – 7:09 AM | 6:20 AM | 8:08 PM | 7:18 PM – 8:31 PM |
| Thu, Sep 3 | 5:58 AM – 7:11 AM | 6:21 AM | 8:05 PM | 7:15 PM – 8:29 PM |
Moon and candidate vantage points
Context to verify
Moon on the selected date
The moon over Edinburgh is a Full Moon, 100% lit. Treat this as lighting context, not a visibility forecast.
Candidate vantage points
Use them only as map-search leads; they are not ranked recommendations. We have not verified current access, closures, permits, safety, or an unobstructed view. 289° WNW is the selected-date mathematical sunset bearing; if another composition faces elsewhere, use the bearing planner in the month table above to locate better-matched sampled months. The number is a planning aid and does not prove visibility.
Plan and calculation notes
Assumptions and limits
Plan this specific light
In Edinburgh, the evening golden hour window runs 1 hr 15 min on the selected date and approaches from 289° 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 Edinburgh
- When is golden hour in Edinburgh?
- Edinburgh 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 72 minutes in March and 108 minutes in December. Use the date control above for the exact boundaries of the day you will shoot.
- Which direction does the sun set in Edinburgh?
- Roughly west, but the useful number changes with the season: 227° SW in December versus 317° NW in June in Edinburgh. That 90° difference decides whether a street or shoreline actually faces the light on your date.
- How much does day length change in Edinburgh?
- Edinburgh's swing is 10 hr 33 min: December bottoms out around 7 hr 1 min of daylight while June peaks near 17 hr 34 min. Each month's numbers are in the table above.
- Does Edinburgh 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 Edinburgh, the representative December golden window lasts 1 hr 48 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.