I do, so I usually don't take pictures of lights in stores or parking places. Since I don't want people to wonder why I'm taking pictures. Of course, with my phone it's a little easier to pretend I'm doing something else than it is with a camera.

Plus even if I do take pictures, I do it so quickly, that they turn out blurry from my arm being shaky.

I also don't take pictures of streetlights unless I'm parked somewhere. Because it's dangerous to drive and take pictures. So most of my outdoor light pictures you might notice, are from Google Streetview. Or if I'm riding and someone else is doing the driving, like if I go out with my parents or friends.

I say take pictures all you want with a camera and disegard what everyone say. Including when they say it is forbidden (in places which are not private)

For the picture quality :

Make use of the shutter timer and position the camera to take pictures (or videos) without you holding it. May take you some experimenting first. Set the timer to a few seconds delay, lay down the camera (rest it on e.g. its wrist strap, ground, small rocks etc) pointed to the light, tap the shutter button to let it focus, and dont touch it when the picture is taken

Take all pictures with manual exposure and f-stop settings to get detail of the light source and not a blinded spot. Where possible, try to take the picture on not to dark background - When the sky is not black yet etc

When I try to take the photos, I go to the places walking, for when if I see a lamp, I can stop and take the picture propenly.
When I buy anything, I wait to get in my house and take the picture.
When I want to take night photos, I set the camera to less ISO, and more exposure time. But if I only have my cellphone, I only set the ISO.