For Film, TV & Photography Light Planning

Know Exactly Where the Sun and Moon Sat at Your Location and Minute

Conditions.Site reports sun position, sunrise, sunset, twilight, and moon phase for any location and any date, down to the minute, with nearby buildings and terrain factored into whether the light actually cleared the visible horizon.

5 free reports a month. No credit card.

Scouting a location, matching continuity across shoot days, or documenting the light on a past exterior means knowing precisely where the sun or moon sat at a specific place and minute. Conditions.Site generates a clear, cited report of sun altitude and azimuth, sunrise, sunset, twilight windows, and moon phase for any location and any date in that location's own local time. Nearby buildings and terrain are factored in, so you know whether the light actually cleared the visible horizon at your street corner, not just the flat astronomical time.

The problem

Where the usual sources come up short when you need to establish what the conditions were.

Almanac times ignore the buildings around you

A generic sunset time assumes a flat horizon. On a real street the sun drops behind a tower or ridgeline well before that. Conditions.Site factors nearby buildings and terrain into whether the sun or moon was above the visible horizon at your exact spot.

Sun angle is a moving target across a location

You need the sun's altitude and azimuth at a precise minute, not a rough band. Get the sun's exact angle and compass direction for an address and time so you can reason about blocking, talent placement, and rigging against the real geometry of the site.

Night exteriors depend on where the moon actually sat

A night scene reads differently under a full moon than a thin crescent, and the moon may not even be up. See moonrise, moonset, altitude, azimuth, and illuminated fraction for the window, terrain-aware, so you know the moon's phase and position rather than guessing.

Continuity and reshoots need a documented record

When you match a scene days or weeks apart, you need the light direction and conditions on each date on record. Save a cited report for every shoot day so a reshoot can be lined up to the same sun azimuth and altitude, and so you can document what the light was on a past day.

How it's used

Scout a location by sun and moon geometry

Drop in an address or coordinates and a date to see where the sun tracks across the sky, when sunrise, sunset, and twilight fall, and whether surrounding buildings shade the spot. Sun and moon positions are deterministic, so scouting a chosen date is solid ground.

Read sunrise, sunset, and twilight for a date

Pull sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight times in the location's local time for a given date, then reason about the usable low-sun window from the real horizon at that site rather than a flat-horizon estimate.

Check the moon for a night exterior

Look up moon phase, illuminated fraction, altitude, and azimuth for a night, terrain- and building-aware, to know how full the moon was and where it sat in the sky through the scene.

Match continuity across multiple days

Generate and save a report for each shoot day so you can document sun direction and conditions, then line up a later reshoot to the same azimuth and altitude for a seamless cut.

What you get

Every value is cross-checked across independent public sources and cited back to its origin.

Sun position, terrain- and building-aware

Altitude, azimuth, sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight times for any location and date, to the minute. Nearby buildings and terrain are factored into whether the sun was above the visible horizon at the site, not just the flat-horizon time.

Moon position and phase for night work

Altitude, azimuth, moonrise, moonset, and illuminated fraction and phase, also terrain- and building-aware. See the moon's phase and exactly where it sat in the sky for a night exterior.

Weather reconciled across independent sources

Temperature, wind, cloud cover, humidity, visibility, and precipitation for a shoot day, drawn from multiple public sources and cross-checked against each other. Useful for comparing cloud cover on a first shoot day against a later reshoot.

A clean, cited PDF report

A one-page visual summary, a per-source comparison table, an hourly table, and per-station detail. Every number is traceable to the source it came from, so your record is documented, not guessed. Save reports per account.

How it works

  1. Enter the location and time

    Search an address or intersection, or drop in GPS coordinates, then pick the date and the time to the minute in the location's own local time.

  2. Generate the cited report

    Conditions.Site assembles sun position, moon position and phase, and reconciled weather, factoring nearby buildings and terrain into the visible horizon.

  3. Read, save, and share the PDF

    Review the one-page summary and detailed tables, download a paginated PDF with every value cited, and keep it in your saved report history for continuity or a reshoot.

Frequently asked questions

What angle was the sun at a specific time and location?
Enter the address or coordinates and the time in local time, and the report gives the sun's altitude (how high above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass direction). That tells you precisely where the sun sat so you can reason about blocking, camera angles, and lighting.
Will nearby buildings block the sun near sunset at a street corner?
Conditions.Site factors nearby buildings and terrain into whether the sun was above the visible horizon at your exact spot, so the report reflects when the sun actually clears or drops behind the surroundings, not just the flat-horizon almanac time.
What are the sunrise, sunset, and twilight times at a location on a date?
The report lists sunrise, sunset, solar noon, and twilight times for the date in the location's local time, so you can pin the usable low-sun window. Because terrain and buildings are factored in, that window reflects the real horizon at the site.
Was the moon up, and how full, during a night exterior?
The report shows moonrise, moonset, altitude, and azimuth so you know whether the moon was up during the window, plus the illuminated fraction and phase so you know how full it was. All of it is terrain- and building-aware.
How do I document sun direction for continuity across multiple days?
Generate a report for each shoot date and save it to your account. Each one records the sun's altitude and azimuth over the day, so you can line up a later reshoot to the same light direction and keep a documented record of the conditions on every day.
Can I compare the cloud cover on the first shoot day against a reshoot?
Yes. Run a report for each date and compare cloud cover, along with temperature, wind, and visibility. Weather is drawn from multiple independent public sources and cross-checked, and every value is cited to where it came from.

Plan your light with a record you can trust

Get sun position, sunrise, sunset, twilight, and moon phase for any location and date, to the minute, with buildings and terrain factored in and every value cited. Start with five free reports a month, no credit card, or go unlimited for $19.99 a year.

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Related uses

Conditions.Site reports are modeled estimates assembled from cited public data sources for informational use; they are not a guarantee of actual conditions.