Next usable light
St. Louis
7:03 PM – 7:56 PM
Solar noonDaytime61.1° · 181° S
Light windows
Fri, Aug 28 · America · ChicagoMorning
- Golden hour
- 6:11 AM – 7:03 AM52 min of warm light
- Blue hour
- 6:00 AM – 6:11 AM11 min of deep blue twilight
Evening
- Golden hour
- 7:03 PM – 7:56 PM52 min of warm light
- Blue hour
- 7:56 PM – 8:06 PM11 min of deep blue twilight
- Sunrise
- 6:27 AM
- Sunset
- 7:39 PM
- Day length
- 13 hr 11 min
- Solar noon
- 1:03 PM
Where to point the camera
Solar path and bearing
On this selected date, the sun reaches 61° at its highest point and the evening light approaches from 283° WNW.
Pick the month before the day
Light through 2026 in St. Louis
December is the generous sample in St. Louis — 1 hr of golden light — while March tightens the window to about 51 min. That 60° of seasonal travel — 241° WSW at the December extreme, 301° WNW at the June one — is why a bearing beats a compass direction when you scout. June days run 14 hr 51 min; by December they shrink to 9 hr 29 min.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Day length | Golden window sample | Sunset bearing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:18 AM | 5:04 PM | 9 hr 46 min | 4:23 PM · 58 min | 243° WSW |
| February | 6:53 AM | 5:39 PM | 10 hr 46 min | 5:02 PM · 54 min | 255° WSW |
| March | 7:13 AM | 7:08 PM | 11 hr 55 min | 6:33 PM · 51 min | 268° W |
| April | 6:25 AM | 7:38 PM | 13 hr 12 min | 7:02 PM · 52 min | 283° WNW |
| May | 5:50 AM | 8:06 PM | 14 hr 16 min | 7:28 PM · 56 min | 295° WNW |
| June | 5:37 AM | 8:28 PM | 14 hr 51 min | 7:48 PM · 59 min | 301° WNW |
| July | 5:49 AM | 8:26 PM | 14 hr 37 min | 7:47 PM · 58 min | 299° WNW |
| August | 6:16 AM | 7:57 PM | 13 hr 41 min | 7:20 PM · 54 min | 289° WNW |
| September | 6:43 AM | 7:11 PM | 12 hr 28 min | 6:36 PM · 51 min | 275° W |
| October | 7:10 AM | 6:24 PM | 11 hr 13 min | 5:48 PM · 52 min | 260° W |
| November | 6:44 AM | 4:49 PM | 10 hr 5 min | 4:10 PM · 57 min | 247° WSW |
| December | 7:12 AM | 4:41 PM | 9 hr 29 min | 4:00 PM · 1 hr | 241° 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 ~3 min per day in the fastest season. Clock times follow America · Chicago, including any daylight-saving change.
Full light and twilight schedule
Midnight to midnight
| Phase | Time |
|---|---|
| Astronomical dawn | 4:53 AM |
| Nautical dawn | 5:27 AM |
| Blue hour (morning) | 6:00 AM |
| Golden hour (morning) | 6:11 AM |
| Sunrise | 6:27 AM |
| Solar noon | 1:03 PM |
| Sunset | 7:39 PM |
| Golden hour (evening) | 7:03 PM |
| Blue hour (evening) | 7:56 PM |
| Nautical dusk | 8:39 PM |
| Astronomical dusk | 9:13 PM |
Seven local days in St. Louis
The week ahead
| Date | Morning golden | Sunrise | Sunset | Evening golden |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri, Aug 28 | 6:11 AM – 7:03 AM | 6:27 AM | 7:39 PM | 7:03 PM – 7:56 PM |
| Sat, Aug 29 | 6:12 AM – 7:04 AM | 6:28 AM | 7:37 PM | 7:02 PM – 7:54 PM |
| Sun, Aug 30 | 6:12 AM – 7:05 AM | 6:29 AM | 7:36 PM | 7:00 PM – 7:52 PM |
| Mon, Aug 31 | 6:13 AM – 7:05 AM | 6:30 AM | 7:34 PM | 6:59 PM – 7:51 PM |
| Tue, Sep 1 | 6:14 AM – 7:06 AM | 6:31 AM | 7:33 PM | 6:57 PM – 7:49 PM |
| Wed, Sep 2 | 6:15 AM – 7:07 AM | 6:32 AM | 7:31 PM | 6:56 PM – 7:48 PM |
| Thu, Sep 3 | 6:16 AM – 7:08 AM | 6:33 AM | 7:30 PM | 6:54 PM – 7:46 PM |
Moon and candidate vantage points
Context to verify
Moon on the selected date
The moon over St. Louis 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 283° 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 St. Louis, the evening golden hour window runs 52 min on the selected date and approaches from 283° 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 St. Louis
- When is golden hour in St. Louis?
- Whenever the sun is between +6° above and −4° below the horizon — a band that wraps around both sunrise and sunset. For St. Louis, the representative monthly window is 51 minutes in March and 60 minutes in December; separate morning and evening crossings merge or wrap overnight near the poles. Pick a date above for the minute-exact times.
- Which direction does the sun set in St. Louis?
- Roughly west, but the useful number changes with the season: 241° WSW in December versus 301° WNW in June in St. Louis. That 60° difference decides whether a street or shoreline actually faces the light on your date.
- How much does day length change in St. Louis?
- Enough to reshape a shoot plan in St. Louis: 9 hr 29 min of daylight in December versus 14 hr 51 min in June. See the table above for the month you're planning.
- Does St. Louis get blue hour right after golden hour?
- Yes, with no gap: blue hour is simply the next slice of the same sunset, defined by the sun dropping from −4° to −6° after the golden band (+6° to −4°) closes. Planning a December shoot in St. Louis? Budget 1 hr of gold, then the blue window follows immediately — both computed per date in the light-windows panel.