Golden hour in Columbus

Golden hour in Columbus starts at 20:22 on 15 June and runs 41 minutes; on 15 December it is 43 minutes from 16:26. The calculator above is preset to Columbus — pick a date and sunrise, sunset, golden and blue hour for that exact shoot day are right there, exportable as a calendar entry.

Golden hour calculator for Columbus

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Golden and blue hour in Columbus: all twelve months

The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Columbus (39.9612, -82.9988) in the America/New_York timezone, DST included. Between December (43 minutes) and March (36 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.2.

Golden and blue hour in Columbus, 2026 (mid-month, local time)
MonthSunriseSunsetGolden am (until)Golden pm (from)Blue hour (from)Daylight
January07:5317:3108:3416:5017:509h 39min
February07:2618:0808:0417:3118:2510h 42min
March07:4419:3908:2019:0319:5611h 55min
April06:5520:1007:3119:3420:2713h 15min
May06:1820:4106:5620:0220:5914h 23min
June06:0421:0306:4420:2221:2315h 00min
July06:1621:0106:5620:2121:2014h 44min
August06:4420:3007:2219:5320:4813h 46min
September07:1419:4307:4919:0719:5912h 29min
October07:4318:5408:2018:1719:1111h 11min
November07:1817:1707:5816:3717:359h 59min
December07:4717:0908:3016:2617:279h 21min

Fitting the window into the shoot day

The evening window is the reliable half: the crew is warmed up, the setup exists, and golden hour is the last slot before wrap. The morning window right after sunrise (until 06:44 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 06:04.

After sunset, Columbus still offers the blue hour: from 21:23 to 21:36 in June (13 minutes). If you need both looks on one evening, everything from the start of golden hour to the end of blue hour is one continuous window — with no room for a re-rig inside it.

Frequently asked

When is golden hour in Columbus today?

Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Columbus from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 20:22, in mid-December at 16:26.

How long does golden hour last in Columbus?

Between 36 minutes (March) and 43 minutes (December) in the evening. The name misleads — it never actually reaches a full hour here.

How accurate are the times?

To about one minute (standard NOAA-style solar computation). Not included: horizon shading from buildings or hills to the west — which can genuinely shorten the window at your location.