Question for pro/semi-pro moto photographers

I've been looking through a few magazines (Racer X, TWMX, etc, etc) as well as Squid's and Chili's photos on here and had a couple questions. I'm kind of what you'd consider a semi-pro photographer (I get paid for my work, but it's still a side career instead of my primary income). I started out shooting snowboarding and skiing but since my primary passion is racing dirtbikes, I'm starting to shoot bikes too. From a ski/snowboard/mountain bike perspective, 'guy in the sky' shots of people jumping, but showing nothing for reference are considered terrible and pretty much never get published. Yet I've noticed in motocross, these shots get published all the time. I've always been taught to include something for reference - usually the landing and/or takeoff to give a sense of scale of the jump. What's your guys' thoughts on this? I might have to rethink how I shoot since it seems like 'guy in the sky' shots make up the majority of the covers of the magazines.