As for the rest of the selection criteria I'll try and make it simple. We always try to add as much variety of background. I'm a big fan of bridges in the background. The bottom line is that variety is good. Light can make and break a photo.
Creativity is still key.
This is the stuff really good photographer's play with thus displaying their artistic and skillful side. Again this is a creative outlet that thrives on variety. An entire magazine would be terrible with just shots from the boat. Tubes, chase, side chase and helicopter are good examples. Wakeboarding is also a very sequence oriented sport and they are quite difficult to shoot from certain angles.