Twilight Photography Client Guide

Photography is possible because of light from our Sun, the stars or from artificial sources like light bulbs. In the real estate world, Golden Hour, Sunset, Twilight, Evening (Blue Hour) and Nighttime lights fall into a category commonly called "Twilight Photography"

Based upon our years of experience, we have found that many real estate agents and vacation rental managers have their own vision of what Twilight Photography is. To better define the time segments we are providing you with two illustrations. The first one is a table defining each phase and how it relates to the sun's position relative to the horizon which is 0 degree. The second illustration attempt labels each segment based upon Sunset. Also, the second illustration illustrates what many people refer to as Golden Hour, but we will address that subject below in an annual time table.

Twilight Photography Time Segments in a Table

Twilight Photography Time Segments in relationship to Sunset.

To better help you understand the astronomical clock setting the definitions below will help.

Golden Hour: just before sunset when the light is infused with red and gold tones.

Civil Twilight: Ends in the evening, when the geometric center of the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. Therefore morning civil twilight begins when the geometric center of the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon.

Nautical Twilight: Ends in the evening, when the geometric center of the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon. In general, the term nautical twilight refers to sailors being able to take reliable readings via well known stars because the horizon is still visible, even under moonless conditions.

Astronomical Twilight: Ends in the evening, when the geometric center of the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. In astronomical twilight, sky illumination is so faint that most casual observers would regard the sky as fully dark, especially under urban or suburban light pollution.

Monthly Time Settings

Unitizing the Golden Hour, Sunset and Twilight segments, Snap2Close has created the table below to highlight the timing of each segment on a 12 month bases. We used the 15th of each month as our target date and more clearly defined the timing of each segment using Phoenix as the location. For other locations please click here and enter your city..