The difference between a flat photo and a glowing one in Columbia is usually forty-five minutes. The calculator below shows exactly which forty-five minutes — today's sunset, sunrise, golden and blue hour, live. On this side of the country, sunrise is the underrated window — the sun comes up over the Atlantic side and morning golden hour is quieter than the evening one.
The month-by-month table below is in this city's own local time. The live times above follow your device's timezone. Mountains, ridgelines and buildings can shorten the usable window — scout your horizon.
Local tip: Shoot with the sun behind your subject during golden hour and expose for the face — the rim light does the rest.
In Columbia, sunset ranges from 5:14 PM in November to 8:39 PM in June. All times local to Columbia (America/New_York).
| Month | Sunrise | Sunset | Golden hour (evening) | Length | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7:29 AM | 5:38 PM | 5:00 PM – 5:38 PM | 38 min | 10h 09m |
| February | 7:08 AM | 6:08 PM | 5:33 PM – 6:08 PM | 35 min | 11h 00m |
| March | 7:34 AM | 7:31 PM | 6:58 PM – 7:31 PM | 33 min | 11h 57m |
| April | 6:53 AM | 7:55 PM | 7:22 PM – 7:55 PM | 33 min | 13h 02m |
| May | 6:22 AM | 8:18 PM | 7:43 PM – 8:18 PM | 35 min | 13h 56m |
| June | 6:12 AM | 8:37 PM | 8:00 PM – 8:37 PM | 37 min | 14h 25m |
| July | 6:24 AM | 8:35 PM | 7:59 PM – 8:35 PM | 36 min | 14h 12m |
| August | 6:45 AM | 8:10 PM | 7:36 PM – 8:10 PM | 34 min | 13h 25m |
| September | 7:07 AM | 7:30 PM | 6:57 PM – 7:30 PM | 33 min | 12h 23m |
| October | 7:29 AM | 6:49 PM | 6:16 PM – 6:49 PM | 33 min | 11h 21m |
| November | 6:56 AM | 5:20 PM | 4:44 PM – 5:20 PM | 36 min | 10h 24m |
| December | 7:22 AM | 5:16 PM | 4:38 PM – 5:16 PM | 38 min | 9h 54m |
Golden hour is the stretch just after sunrise and just before sunset, when the low sun turns hard daylight into soft, warm, directional light — the most flattering natural light for portraits, real estate, product and landscape photography. Blue hour follows sunset (and precedes sunrise): a short window of deep, even blue that's ideal for twilight real estate shots and skylines. Both windows change with latitude and season, which is why this page computes them live instead of guessing.
Kanyon Studio is a San Diego photography and video studio — golden hour is our home field. Brand shoots, products, real estate and portraits, planned around exactly this light.
