Technically this is a Biology question;
The 'amount' we can see depends on how much light can get through our pupil to hit our retina.
When there is a lot of light the pupil is small; it doesn't need to be big to let a lot of light in.
When we move to a dark space there is much less light, so the pupil 'dilates' to let enough light so we can see properly.
The period in which one cant see is simply when the pupil hasn't had time to change shape yet so doesn't let in enough light.