Golden hour in Washington, D.C.
Golden hour in Washington, D.C. starts at 19:56 on 15 June and runs 40 minutes; on 15 December it is 42 minutes from 16:06. The calculator above is preset to Washington, D.C. — 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 Washington, D.C.
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- Golden hour (pm)
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- Blue hour (pm)
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- Sunset azimuth
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Golden and blue hour in Washington, D.C.: all twelve months
The table shows mid-month (the 15th) — computed from the coordinates of Washington, D.C. (38.9072, -77.0369) in the America/New_York timezone, DST included. Between December (42 minutes) and March (35 minutes) the evening window changes by a factor of 1.2.
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden am (until) | Golden pm (from) | Blue hour (from) | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 07:26 | 17:10 | 08:07 | 16:30 | 17:28 | 9h 44min |
| February | 07:01 | 17:46 | 07:38 | 17:09 | 18:03 | 10h 45min |
| March | 07:20 | 19:15 | 07:56 | 18:40 | 19:32 | 11h 55min |
| April | 06:32 | 19:45 | 07:08 | 19:09 | 20:02 | 13h 13min |
| May | 05:57 | 20:14 | 06:35 | 19:36 | 20:32 | 14h 18min |
| June | 05:43 | 20:36 | 06:23 | 19:56 | 20:55 | 14h 53min |
| July | 05:56 | 20:34 | 06:35 | 19:55 | 20:53 | 14h 38min |
| August | 06:22 | 20:05 | 06:59 | 19:28 | 20:22 | 13h 42min |
| September | 06:50 | 19:18 | 07:25 | 18:43 | 19:35 | 12h 28min |
| October | 07:18 | 18:31 | 07:54 | 17:55 | 18:48 | 11h 13min |
| November | 06:52 | 16:56 | 07:31 | 16:16 | 17:13 | 10h 04min |
| December | 07:20 | 16:48 | 08:02 | 16:06 | 17:06 | 9h 27min |
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 06:23 in June) instead requires camera and lighting to be standing before sunrise — with a call well before 05:43.
After sunset, Washington, D.C. still offers the blue hour: from 20:55 to 21:08 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 Washington, D.C. today?
Pick today's date in the calculator above — it computes the times for Washington, D.C. from the coordinates, DST included. As a bearing: in mid-June it starts at 19:56, in mid-December at 16:06.
How long does golden hour last in Washington, D.C.?
Between 35 minutes (March) and 42 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.