Weather you like it or not everyone involved in Parks' 1080 made a positive contribution that day. 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.