# Sunrise and Sunset Planner for Shoot Days and Golden Hour

Source: https://storiara.com/tools/sunrise-sunset-planner
Last updated: 2026-09-14
Author: Nick Harty, Storiara

> The sunrise and sunset planner shows seven days of sun times for a location: civil dawn (first light), sunrise, the end of morning golden hour, the start of evening golden hour, sunset, civil dusk (last light), and total daylight. Pick one of 15 production cities or enter coordinates, then choose the first shoot date.

## Getting times for your location

Pick a city from the list. The presets are Los Angeles, Bakersfield, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, Albuquerque, Vancouver, Toronto, Mexico City, London, Dublin, Budapest, Sydney, and Auckland, and each one shows times in that city's time zone. For anywhere else, choose Custom coordinates and type latitude and longitude as decimals (west and south are negative, so Joshua Tree is roughly 34.13, -116.31).

Then set the first shoot date. The table fills with that day and the six after it.

## What each column means

| Column | Sun position |
|---|---|
| First light | center of the sun 6° below the horizon, rising (civil dawn) |
| Sunrise | top edge of the sun at the horizon, with refraction |
| Morning golden hour ends | 6° above the horizon, rising |
| Evening golden hour starts | 6° above the horizon, setting |
| Sunset | top edge of the sun at the horizon, setting |
| Last light | center of the sun 6° below the horizon, setting (civil dusk) |
| Daylight | sunset minus sunrise |

Sunrise and sunset use a zenith of 90.833°, the Naval Observatory's definition: 16 arcminutes for the sun's apparent radius plus 34 arcminutes for refraction at the horizon.

## Worked example with the defaults

The planner opens on Bakersfield, California, for the week starting Tuesday 6 October 2026. The first row reads:

| First light | Sunrise | Morning golden hour ends | Evening golden hour starts | Sunset | Last light | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6:29 AM | 6:54 AM | 7:28 AM | 5:59 PM | 6:33 PM | 6:58 PM | 11h 38m |

As a cross-check, the Naval Observatory's data service gives 6:30 AM civil twilight, 6:55 AM sunrise, 6:33 PM sunset, and 6:58 PM end of civil twilight for the same coordinates and date. By the last row, Monday 12 October, sunrise is 6:59 AM and sunset 6:24 PM, so the week loses 13 minutes of daylight.

Say the scene is EXT. ORCHARD - DAWN and the DP wants the sky before the sun clears the trees. Between first light at 6:29 and sunrise at 6:54 there are 25 minutes. Working back, crew call at 4:30 AM with the camera ready by 6:15 is a reasonable start, and the rehearsal happens in the dark. If the scene needs two setups in that window, plan it over two mornings and write it that way on the [call sheet](https://storiara.com/templates/call-sheet).

## Limits to plan around

- Terrain and buildings. The math assumes a flat horizon at sea level. A canyon or a downtown street can put the location in shade long before the listed sunset. Check sun angles on the [tech scout](https://storiara.com/glossary/tech-scout).
- Elevation. From a hilltop the sun rises a little earlier and sets a little later than the table says.
- Custom coordinates use your browser's time zone. If you're in Los Angeles planning a shoot in Morocco, the times will display in Pacific time. Switch your computer's zone or convert by hand.
- Weather and haze, which change how long usable golden light lasts.
- Golden hour here is a sun angle. It's a useful planning line, but the DP decides when the light is right.
- Moon phase and moonrise aren't shown, which matters for night exteriors lit by practicals only.
- The table covers seven days from the date you choose. Run it again for each week of a long shoot.

## Where sun times end up

Sunrise and sunset belong on the call sheet for every exterior day, next to the weather. They also decide how a 1st AD boards a split day and whether a night exterior can wrap before dawn. [Scheduling night shoots](https://storiara.com/blog/scheduling-night-shoots) covers how short summer nights squeeze a schedule, and [day for night](https://storiara.com/glossary/day-for-night) is the fallback when there isn't enough dark. For a covered backup, see [weather cover](https://storiara.com/glossary/weather-cover).

## Frequently asked questions

### When is golden hour?

In this planner, golden hour is when the sun is less than 6 degrees above the horizon: from sunrise until it climbs past 6 degrees, and from when it drops below 6 degrees until sunset. How warm the light actually looks depends on haze and cloud.

### What is the difference between first light and sunrise?

First light here is the start of civil twilight, when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon and there's enough light to see outdoors. Sunrise is when the top edge of the sun appears. In Bakersfield in early October the gap is about 25 minutes.

### How accurate are the times?

They're calculated for flat ground at sea level and can be a few minutes off. For Bakersfield on 6 October 2026 the planner gives sunrise at 6:54 AM and sunset at 6:33 PM; the U.S. Naval Observatory gives 6:55 AM and 6:33 PM.

### Why does a day show n/a?

At high latitudes near midsummer or midwinter the sun may not rise, set, or reach the angle for that column on a given day, so there's no time to show.

## Sources

- [U.S. Naval Observatory: Sun and Moon rise/set data service](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/RS_OneDay)
- [U.S. Naval Observatory: Rise, set, and twilight definitions](https://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/RST_defs)