Golden hour in New Orleans in May

New Orleans lies at 29.95° N, in the subtropics, with short, decisive twilights. Its longest measured day falls on Sat 20 June 2026 with 14h 05m of daylight, and its shortest on Fri 18 December 2026 with 10h 13m — a difference of 3h 52m between the two extremes.

Evening golden hour in New Orleans runs for roughly 35 minutes at the height of summer, 32 minutes around the March equinox and 36 minutes at midwinter. The warm window is actually widest in the colder months, which makes winter evenings unusually forgiving here.

The sun sets toward 298° WNW in late June and toward 243° WSW in late December, a shift of about 55° in where the last light lands — worth checking before committing to a west-facing viewpoint. In New Orleans, the sky reaches full darkness between evening and morning twilight year-round.