Sounds like he just got a really cooperative flight crew & fellow passengers. Maybe everyone bought into the idea.

"…I did get lucky and have a whole row to myself to setup the tripod and gear. Thanks to my neighbors for not minding an SLR click every 2 to 30 seconds for 11 hours, and thanks to the whole Air France flight crew for being insanely friendly and allowing me to shoot…"

I usually keep the window open at night and have never had anyone say anything. I thought the only rule around that was they had to be shut during take-off/landing if the cabin lights were on.

They actually have to be open during take-off/landing, in case of a crash the rescue crew has to be able to look inside the plane from the outside.

And the lights are dimmed on a nighttime takeoff/landing so that, in the event of needing to evacuate, your eyes don't need to adjust as much as when going from very bright to very dim.

Now I need to Google why that is, it drives me nuts when they make you shut your window at night... It's dark!

'Sleeping time' on a plane is fairly independent of actual time outside. It's when the crew want a subdued, calm and restful (and hopefully asleep) cargo of passengers.

It's akin to hanging black curtains in a babies room to ensure the best chance they'll sleep for as long as possible before crying for mother's milk (or another scotch and dry).

So, essentially, it's not about shutting the window because it's dark, but ensuring the window is shut before it gets light again?

I'm only speculating, sorry, as someone who's spent a lot of time on planes.

...but I've observed a fairly obvious system of attempting to regulate sleeping patterns on planes independent of outside time. Setting a slightly unnatural 'pattern' to a flight with timed refreshments, meals, sleepy time etc. Presumably to provide a sense of 'natural' sleep/wake cycles and also to manage the cargo so the flight crew can also rest as required.

The blinding light on the horizon coming in full bore at right angles, when passengers are supposed to be sleeping is probably an issue, but I suspect that having the blinds drawn even when dark is a psychological 'it's sleepy time, so sleep... so the crew can chill out too' is another thing.

That seems like a good explanation. My circadian rhythms are shot with a decade of all nighters and free wheeling around the clock so I might not be as sensitive to these techniques :-)

That is how it was explained to me by a flight attendant. Obviously it doesn't matter if the blinds are down when it is dark outside, but the sun will come up sooner than some sleeping people expect/want it to. And if you happen to fall asleep with your blind up, by the time you wake up to put it down, it will be too late--the light will already be flooding in on everyone else.

A seat light is much dimmer and more focused than sunlight flooding in through an open window, so it's less disturbing to sleeping passengers.

On flights where it was known that we would be landing in darkness or dusk, they didn't care if the blinds were up--since the passengers would have to wake up to egress anyway.