An outdoor lighting control method and apparatus for use with an outdoor lighting fixture that automatically detects the changing length of the day and provides for automatically turning off the light after a shorter period of illumination during shorter summer nights and after a longer period of illumination during longer winter nights. The control method measures the elapsed time interval over which night sets in, for example, by sensing light levels characteristic of the onset of dusk and the onset of night and measuring the elapsed time between the two sensed light levels, and then automatically turns on the lighting fixture for nighttime operation for a duration that depends on the measured elapsed night-onset time.