I'm a night owl, but I wouldn't say I prefer it just for the lighting. Are you sure you don't prefer the lack of interruption that often accompanies dark, late night work environments? Even with good noise cancelling headphones, there can still be a lot of distraction. Even a coworker walking through your field of vision can take you out of what you're doing.
I've always done my best work starting at maybe 10pm, but I also don't think it's about the lighting. There are some seemingly obvious benefits--the news cycle is much slower, few stores are open, most people are sleeping--so, fewer distractions overall.
But I don't think it's that. That's when I feel like working.
When I wake up at 8am, I feel like reading the internet all day.
I'm really not sure I can quantify or explain it any better.
