I have been photographing at night for over 20 years. I am attracted to night imagery because of its contrast and long tonal range. Black & white, of course. It is a view that is seldom captured due to the lack of light. Long exposures and hanging out in places while the light paints its way on to the film is a mysterious alchemy. There is such beauty and secrecy in the night. The most exciting thing to me is when the composition is found and the image begins to reveal itself.
My workflow uses both digital and analog techniques. My images are captured on black & white film and developed in the darkroom. Then the negatives are digitized (scanned) and adjusted in Photoshop. Image output is via a digital negative that is generated from a high resolution inkjet printer and then contacted to silver gelatin paper. This returns me to the darkroom for processing.
The reasons I choose this methodology are because I can only achieve the tonal elements that film provide. Digital cameras are improving, but do not provide long exposure image quality that can take in such a wide range of tones. I also removed the enlarger from my darkroom and replaced it with a contact frame and a 150 watt light bulb. Photoshop allows me to adjust the areas in the image that need lightening/darkening much easier than doing it with the enlarger. Finally, being an old-school sort, I still love the beautiful surface of silver prints. They have a special glow to me.
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