Art Night Proposal

For art night, I plan to take a nighttime photograph of my front door, and the lantern beside it, in particular. I experience this strange light when I walk my dog every night, and thought it might be fun to photograph. My house is rather bland on its own, but I think that the eerie light of the lantern by the front door could make it seem somewhat creepy and interesting. Extensively Photoshopping the image will be essential to creating the desired effect.
Though I can't pinpoint a particular technique, I strive to achieve the effect that is in my two reference photographs. The photographer seems to have upped the contrast and desaturated the image (I might keep a bit more color in mine) to emphasize the effect of light in darkness. Vignetting the photograph will increase the effect.
I plan to shoot on Thursday (?) night. I will use a tripod and take the picture when the sun sets at different times (probably around 8:30 - 9:00). This way, I will have a gradient of darkness levels and will be able to choose which one provides the effect I want the most.


I can't seem to post the reference photographs, so I'm giving you links to them instead:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/spacelion/226051724/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rborja/1827815257/