As one can imagine, it is often difficult to get up hours before the sunrise, gather your equipment (often a wet wetsuit), and head to the beach to take photos. Yes, you might be excited to see what sunrise has for you, but normally you are pretty tired. 

That is where having a photography friend comes in. The days where you would hit snooze and go back to sleep are curtailed by said friend. You would have coordinated the night before about where to meet and at what time in order to get to the target beach with enough time before sunrise. You don't want to let him down by sleeping in like a hibernating bear. 

So you get up, get ready, get out the door and meet up to swim out into the unknown. You might get some amazing shots. Or not. But if you do get in the water with your friend, your chances of survival by shark attack just went up 100%! ;)