Everyone is a self-proclaimed procrastinator and sometimes, we try our best to out-procrastinate someone else. "Oh you wrote your essay 2 days before the due date? That's cute, I wrote the whole thing last night". Although I'm not particularly privy to those sorts of competitions, I can say that I am skilled at putting things off for later. For example, instead of sleeping or studying, I will go out and drive around and take photos.
Biggest lesson from going out that night: Bring some lights. If you're shooting specific subjects at night you may not get adequate or appropriate light coverage, resulting in subjects that are underexposed (and potentially, overexposed backgrounds/foregrounds). One day I'll buy a light and test out some long exposures.
And that's a wrap! Got lots of improvement but the process is part of the experience. Until next time, which will probably be some shots from San Francisco.
Cheers,
Gary