uh..wow ..some interesting posts..
Here is my break down on what I do.
What am I shooting for? Am just out riding with my buddies and snapping pics for fun, am I experimenting (learning), or am I doing a specific shoot with the intentions of leaving with publishable materiel.
If I'm just out shooting for fun, I may shot JPG, but mostly likely I'll still shoot RAW. I really see very little reason to shoot JPG. Even if you have no intention of doing any post it's always good to have your files in the highest possible quality.. You'd be surprised at how much random "stock" photos I've sold a couple seasons down the road of which If I wouldn't have shot RAW. I would be SOL, but it also really depends on the day, the weather, and who I'm riding with. If I'm shooting, powder, good riders, bluebird, or unique location..no screwing around high quality possible. With that said "RAW" isn't going to save a bad photo. It just gives you the ability to compensate for choices your camera would have made for via the automatic JPG encoding that takes place in the camera...but that's enough on that.
Aperture, and Shutter speed. I see a lot of people talking about "Aperture" only for the purpose of compensation of light exposure, while shutter speed is used for the ability to stop movement. Personally, the usage of Aperture for depth of Field is very important when it comes to shoot snowmobling, there is a high probability of a distracting background, or an amazing scenic background when you are out shooting. It's important to control your Depth of Field so your photos don't end up just overly distracting. In lower light situations where I can't get the speed I want, I will first give on ISO (within reason) before I compromise my composure.
Full Manual, I often read people talking about shooting "full manual" and how it's the only way to shot.. This always boggles my mind. There is a time and place for Manual, and while I do find my self often shooting manual. It's important to know when is good a time to shoot Shutter Priority, or Aperture Priority. Changing lighting conditions (clouds), wanting to shot "ai servo" ie multiple shots within a given "run" where you may pivot and find lighting conditions changing based on your direction in association with the sun, or the proximity of the target. If say your out with 2-3 of your buds and trying to get shots from different perspectives as they are riding different terrain around you.. Shooting manual may give you a good exposure for 1 angle, but not for all. It's important to decide what your priorities are when shooting, and how far you will compromise one by selecting another (ie.. if you demand a short DOF of 2.8.. where will that put your Shutter speed, can you still stop the action? will you need a ND filter?)
Composure: At first it's very easy, and a lot of fun to just "chase" the action a "spray and pray" mentality. Especially with the high FPS rate of todays cameras. Now this can sometimes (given enough shots) produce some good, to excellent results. More often then not the photo as your imagined it in your mind...is not what your going to end up with, and when it comes to say shooting in a position where you "HAVE" to a have results.. Blasting FPS, and chasing the action just may not get it done. So it's very important to be able to look at an area, talk to your riders and compose a photo. Take into account where the rider will be coming from, the run out, the scene, suns loction, ect ect.. Will they be crossing there own track? Will a tree be sticking out of there head, Will you be able to get those awesome peaks. Will you be able to compose within rule of thirds (do you want?)..
One often over looked part of composing your shot is the relation of you camera to the riders body position.. first off.. Very rarely would anybody want an "*** shot". When it comes to shooting sleds the action comes from the "powder" ... Big sprays from the track up against the bulk head, the ski's in the snow ect, rider getting burred.. ect.. These are things that display movement in your shots. It's very similar to shooting skiing or snowboarding. You also want to watch out for the riders head location, goggles can often be a great center point do the colour they will add on a white out days.
With that said, what I try to do is survey an area before (if possible) and try to come up with a scene in my head as to how I want the shot to look. I then talk to the riders and explain to them what we are going for. This will allow you to do things like, precompose, prefocus, ect.. VS Slapping the camere in AI Servo and chasing the rider into your target zone then bursting away. (Which does have it's place).
White Balance: A quick custom balance with a white card or shooting the snow usually get the trick done.
Snow Exposure: I usually find shooting up to a 1 stop faster helps with proper exposure for snow.
Equipment: try to stick to your most used lens on the body.. you want to minimize changing lenses ect.. I've had stuff fog up on me..never a good thing.
Keep shooting until you find your style. When I first started getting serious with photography I was using a Canon 10d. I would dream of moving to a Mark II to get FPS FPS FPS FPS whenever I was out shooting with my basically "1 shot" 10d. Don't get me wrong I got some GREAT shots with my 10d, but when I eventually switched to the Mark II. I found the being able to shoot as many frames per second as I wanted wasn't how I had planned it. It actually hindered my photography. My photos were coming out random, and not what I had envisioned. Chasing the action and spraying was fun at first..but at the end every year I look back at my photos from the previous year and try to improve.. It does me no good say getting the exact same half pipe shot I took 3 years ago... Now..which is what happens when you just spray and don't compose your shots.
What it really boils down to is why you are shooting, and what you hope to achieve. This year is going to be a little different for me, as I picked up a g11 as my camera of choice for all none "preplanned shoots" I will still be using my dslr setup when I know I have something serious going on, but for the most part I want to just capture what riding means to me, my friends, and generally good times, vs what I've done in previous years which is say try to show "how epic" riding is via the "ok meet me an hour before sunrise we need to get to this location, and shoot this hill when the golden light is x y z." I'll still be doing some of that, but not as much.
anyways.. doesn't really answer your questions as It's a bit more of a philosophical rant about photography..but I already typed it out, and it's way to ****ing long so I'm just going to hit submit and shut up now.
