Scott Serfas Photography

I'm Outta Here!

2011-01-16T22:40:00.000-08:00

I've recently built a new web page that includes a blog. Come check it out, this will be my last post here. www.scottserfas.com

Pleasure Magazine - Complete AK Feature

2011-01-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

Pleasure Magazine Cover in Germany.

2010-12-24T15:00:00.000-08:00

John Jackson sends it for the film "The Art of Flight" to be released next fall. He lands way below the bottom of the photo in what some are calling the biggest air ever.

A Chilean Volcano Venture

2010-12-21T08:28:00.001-08:00

This summer I spent a week in Patagonia with the North Face team. We hiked and splitboarded up a volcano, camped and rode. Click here to watch the video and keep an eye out for the February issue of Transworld Snowboarding Magazine for the full story.

Words of Wisdom

2010-12-09T10:34:00.001-08:00

I was recently flipping through the Photo Annual of Powder Magazine and came across this story I found interesting. I feel Mike makes some great points that we can all learn from.

Interview on PhotoShelter

2010-12-09T08:59:00.000-08:00

American Photo Images of the Year

2010-12-06T13:14:00.001-08:00

Here is the latest issue of American Photo and the entire "Photos of the Year" feature. I was lucky enough to win the commercial catagory with my image of Devun Walsh shot for Transworld Snowboarding Magazine. Its good to see action sports being recognized in the photography world. Check out Brian Bielmann's runner up surf photo of Donovan. Pretty sick!

John Jackson Cover of TWS Photo Annual

2010-12-04T16:25:00.000-08:00

After a long day of shooting in AK we flew back to our lodge and I went straight to my room and downloaded the days images. I knew I had a few bangers in there but it wasn't until I saw this shot on my screen that I realized how good it really was. After seeing this shot for the first time, I think John and I both knew deep down this shot was going on the cover.

Mikkel Bang on the Cover of Norwegian Magazine

2010-11-25T11:28:00.000-08:00

I shot this photo of Mikkel at the end of the day during a week long stretch of sunny days in Whistler, BC. The crew was motivated so we didn't stop till the sun dropped.

Travis Rice Talks Cover Shot.

2010-11-25T06:30:00.000-08:00

Transworld Snowboarding Magazine AK Cover and Feature

2010-11-20T17:55:00.001-08:00

Huge claims. Even with Travis Rice, John Jackson, and Mark Landvik on the trip, photographer Scott Serfas came back from a month shooting in Alaska's remote Tordrillo Range for Rice's forthcoming film, Flight, claiming it like a freshman after his first college kegger. Everything was the "craziest, biggest, sickest, heaviest ever..." The thing is, Serfas ain't no freshman, he's more of a "Frank The Tank" in snowboard media, He's been here for years. He's seen and shot it all and yet we could only scratch our heads at his giddy e-mails, claiming that "this trip was the best snowboarding trip in history." Too bad they couldn't smuggle a writer along on the trip. We were stuck with a secondhand account from our key photographer with a vocabulary limited to just three adjectives: best, biggest, and greatest.

-Joel Muzzey

Good to Epic on Surfline.com

2010-10-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Check the link

Buoloco.com Interviews Part 3 of 4

2010-10-26T12:44:00.000-07:00

Scott Serfas talks about Devun Walsh from BuoLoco on Vimeo.

Buoloco.com Interviews Part 2 of 4

2010-10-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

Scott Serfas talks about Travis Rice and the Movie Fligth from BuoLoco on Vimeo.

Ransom by Adidas Backcountry Photo Shoot

2010-10-19T13:54:00.000-07:00

Recently I spent a few days in the British Columbia backcountry shooting the 2011 fall catalogue for a Ransom shoe collaboration with Adidas Originals. The catalogue will have a large "out there" wilderness crossed with a camping/exploring vibe.

Logistics manager Shin Campos goes over some options with Ransom creator and designer Matt George.

Mary was there to host a behind the scenes piece for Fashion TV. I think she was looking for Starbucks when this shot was taken.

Mary and Matt introduce the concept and location for Fashion TV.

Our base camp during the shoot. No room service provided.

We shot a few pieces in this ice cave. Lucky we where not in there when it all came crashing down 15 minutes later. We would have all died. Honestly.

A view from my tent one morning.

Our crew follows me after being dropped by helicopter.

Working in the rain always makes thing a bit harder.

A test shot of Cody in the ice cave.

Another test shot of Cody, this time in the woods.

Behind the scenes interviews with model Cody and Matt George.

Buoloco.com Interviews Part 1 of 4

2010-10-18T14:24:00.001-07:00

Scott Serfas Canon Versus Nikon? from BuoLoco on Vimeo.

Update from Chile 2. The making of Brain Farm's movie "Flight".

2010-09-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

It was a long month in Chile shooting along side with the Brain Farm Cinema crew searching for pow in the Andes. We started in Farellones, near the ski resort of Valle Nevado. With a way less than average snow pack we decided to fly south to Termas de Chillan. There was more snow but finding good snow was impossible. If it was sunny the snow was wind hammered and if it was decent snow the clouds were too thick to fly. In the end we did get a few gems on the ski hill and one good backcountry jump into deep "hot pow". Lots of highlights from a really fun trip. One that will always stay in my mind is when the helicopter pilot let me shoot the jump from inside the snowboard basket on the outside of the chopper. Defiantly something that would never happen in North America. And it wasn't as scary as you would think.

Left Photo. Director Curt Morgan, guide Clark Fyans, pilot Edwardo, Travis Rice and Jake Blauvelt.

This zone Curt renamed Condor Waterfall.

Scotty Lago honing his hunting skills.

The 3 amigos...Jared, me and Curt

Auto heli pilot, who knew it even existed?

Curt's cineflex station at 10,000 feet.

I was lucky enough to shoot the jump from here. At 1000 feet it was quite the ride.

Santiago at dusk.

See that little black dot in the smoke? Thats us shooting.

My shot of the volcano.

Dark Side of the Lens.

2010-08-28T12:20:00.000-07:00

DARK SIDE OF THE LENS from Astray Films on Vimeo.

New TWS Cover Shot of Devun Walsh

2010-08-28T12:03:00.000-07:00

I've been shooting Devun Walsh for almost 20 years now. I've watched him go from the kid without a sponsor, to the kid everyone wanted to look like, to the legend he is today. It took him a lot of hard work, on and off the snow. Whether it meant hiking the jump just one more time, driving solo to Utah for a photo shoot or only spinning a switch backside 5 because a 12 will look like shit, Devun knows that being a professional snowboarder is more than chuckin' whatever the newest trick is. He does it all better than anyone else out there, and here is the proof.

Update from Chile. The making of Brain Farm's movie "Flight".

2010-08-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

About 10 days ago I left Canada for Chile to shoot with Brain Farm for the making of their feature film "Flight". The snowboarders for this portion of the film will be Jake Blauvelt, Scotty Lago and Travis Rice.

We landed in Santiago and stayed in the city to shoot the lifestyle and the travel portion of the film first before leaving to Farallones, a small town near the ski hill Valle Nevado. With a huge house for us waiting in Farallones along with 2 helicopters, this is where we were to base ourselves from for the next month.

Due to a lack of new snow we decided to leave the house behind and fly south a few hours to Termas de Chillan. All our gear following in 2 cargo vans. Unfortunately the expected snow in Chillan never showed. While waiting, we were able to do a lot of fun things that will end up in the TV show, a kind of a behind the scenes and making of the film. One day consisted of flying to a winery for some tasting, and the next to the beach to check out the Volcom Nutcracker surf contest and finally a day of heli shopping.

We are now back in Farallones, regrouping and planning the next week of the shoot. We still have close to 3 weeks left so we are all optimistic that the snow will come. With this group of riders, all we really need is 3 good days to get it all done. Fingers crossed.

Santiago Airport flooding, not sure the bucket will help.

Greg Wheeler films a local act with the Phantom Camera.

Local dancing in Santiago.

A portion of our group overlooking Santiago.

The setting sun from our house in Farallones.

A lot of people followed Travis Rice and our crew around on Termas de Chillan.

A view of farm land on the way to the beach.

A layer of fog over farm land.

Chile's La Gotera point break from the air.

Travis Rice and Madonna. Opening night of gay ski week in Termas de Chillan.

Gay ski week and Jake Blauvelt's birthday made for one hell of a good time.

Published in American Photo

2010-08-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

I recently submitted a few photos to American Photo for their feature on sports photography and was thrilled to find this photo of Mikkel Bang was published. The photo was taken this winter. We were in the Whistler backcountry, it was late in the day, and my crew was still motivated to get shots. This was Mikkel's first time hitting the jump. He was trying a backside 180 and misjudged his speed and went way too big. He opened up like this to keep his balance. On the next try he got the trick but it just doesn't look as cool as this one.

Follow Me on Twitter

2010-08-10T12:00:00.000-07:00

Well I'm officially on Twitter. If your interested you can follow me by clicking this link and adding me. Let's get it on!

Dana White Spends $5K at TWS.

2010-08-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

This summer Dana White, president of the UFC, visited the Transworld offices in Carlsbad California to speak at a sales meeting. Apparently he saw this Mike O'Meally photo hanging on the wall in the skate department and needed to have it. Everything is for sale I guess, especially when your potential client walks around with a gangsters wad in his pocket 24/7.

For $5k Dana literally took the photo from the wall and back to his jet, which didn't fit into the Carlsbad airport. Bummer.

Dana removing his new piece from the wall.

Skin Phillips flippin' through 5K.

Outside the TWS office in Carlsbad.

Dana and Skate photo editor Skin Phillips, I hope O'Meally sees some of that cake.

Red Bull Illume 2010 Semi-Finalist

2010-07-31T00:07:00.001-07:00

Red Bull Illume is the world’s premier action and adventure sports photography competition. After a highly successful inaugural event in 2007, the 2010 Image Quest is well under way. An impressive 4,337 photographers from 112 countries registered to the website and 22,764 images were submitted to the competition before the February 28, 2010 deadline - three times more than the amount entered in 2007. The submission phase is now closed and the judging phase has begun.

Fifty-three judges from respected picture-desks in 30 countries have the challenging task of selecting the best 50 images from 10 categories: culture, playground, energy, spirit, close up, wings, SanDisk sequence, new creativity, experimental and illumination.

My photo pictured here of Ryan Decenzo, submitted into the wings category, has made it into the semi-finals (top 25) and I am anxiously waiting to find out if it will go on to take top 5 honours.

The winners will be announced August 31st in Dublin, Ireland. The overall winner will receive a Leica S2 camera and equipment to the value of €30,000. Every photographer with a photo in the final 50 images of the competition will receive one SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB Flash Memory card, while category winners receive 10 each. The overall winner will receive 20 - a year's supply. Check out the website www.redbullillume.com for regular updates on the judging phase as well as news, interviews and videos about the world's best action and adventure sports photographers.

Ansel Adams Negatives Found At Garage Sale Worth $200 Million

2010-07-29T09:27:00.000-07:00

The next time I see signs for a garage sale, I may just be tempted to stop.

A California painter has scored a dreamy estimated value for 65 glass negatives he found at a garage sale back in 2000. Originally priced at $70, he bargained them down to $45. Today, they’re valued at $200 million. Why?

Those boxes contained 65 glass negatives created by famed nature photographer Ansel Adams in the early period of his career. Experts believed the negatives were destroyed in a 1937 darkroom fire that destroyed 5,000 plates. The photographs apparently were taken between 1919 and the early 1930s, well before Adams — who is known as the father of American photography — became nationally recognized in the 1940's

Team Shoot Out 2010 - We Are The Defending Champions

2010-07-16T10:16:00.000-07:00

Last year I teamed up with Rome Snowboards and Bear Mountain to compete in Transworld SNOWboarding's Team Shoot Out and took top honours. This year we defended our title against 3 new teams. The photos and video's have been submitted and we wait the announcement of the 2010 TWS Team Shoot Out winner.

Laurent Nicolas Paquin - elbow rail 50-50 to stairs.

Shoot Out Contest Breakdown

The contest goes down in a two-week window: seven days of build time and seven days of ride time.

Each team is provided with a maximum of 210 groomer labor hours and 240 hand crew labor hours by the host resort.

Each team consists of five riders (including one girl). If the team doesn’t include a female, they can only have four riders.

Rider substitutions can only be made if a team member is injured.

One photographer is assigned to shoot each team for the event.

Each team can use a maximum of two filmers to shoot video.

Each team must create a four-minute final video and submit a gallery of six photos for judging.

Judging is broken into the event’s three main components: video, photos, and overall creativity.

The winning team is awarded the September cover.

The Team Shoot Out winner is determined by adding the judging scores of all the contest criteria for the highest possible points total.

Submitted Photo #1 - Eiki Helgason

Submitted Photo #2 - Johnnie Paxson

Submitted Photo #3 - Will Lavigne

Submitted Photo #4 - Johnnie Paxson

Submitted Photo #5 - Johnnie Paxson

Submitted Photo #6 - Laurent Nicolas Paquin

Artist "Gabz" Illustrates a Photo of Mine for Red Bull

2010-07-14T22:02:00.001-07:00

Gabz is a 31-years-old freelance illustrator based in Poland and was hired by Red Bull to reproduce my photo of Ryan Decenzo.

In 2003, Gabz graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Poland with a Masters degree in Graphic Arts and Drawing. After the studies he worked first as an illustrator and later as a graphic designer in various advertising agencies, before choosing to work strictly freelance in 2005.

In the past, Gabz' personal art work has veered towards dark themes. A conscious effort to make his work more broadly appealing and optimistic in tone has coincided with an increasing focus on his favorite way of creating images: he first works with pen or pencil, before the hand-drawn art is perfected on his iMac. He also works with vectors, water color and oil pastels, does graphic design and enjoys typography.

Whether it is a personal or commissioned work, Gabz aim is to keep his works attractive, intriguing and eye-catching in terms of not only the technique and often used color but the whole concept.

Gabz has been featured in numerous publications including Computer Arts, Advanced Photoshop, Joia Magazine and Digital Arts Magazine and accrued an ever growing international client list such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Ubisoft, Sony Ericsson and Red Bull.

Red Bull decided on this version.

The original version that Red Bull did not use.

Art?

2010-06-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

2 Day Shooting Extension Proves Productive

2010-06-17T17:02:00.000-07:00

In the years past our crew of surfers, filmers and art directors have been extremely lucky with decent swell size and sunny dry weather, but that was all about to change. This seasons Ripzone photo shoot in Nicaragua was looking grim. We showed up and the waves were pretty big but it rained all day and night, making the weather less than ideal for shooting. By the time the sun did come out the swell had dropped and the waves sucked. To make things worse, all the rain water flowing to the ocean through the rivers, collecting mud, garbage and sewage along the way turned the water mud brown and left most the surfers with bad ear infections. Just before our departure date the swell models jumped and good surf and weather was in the forecast. Adrian Millar, Ripzone's marketing manager made the call and extended our trip to catch this new swell. And good thing he did because those 2 extra shooting days made the trip worth while.

It was this afternoon that the swell started to fill in. A fun little right hander?

It doesn't get any better looking than this.

Sam Zuegner bottom turns on a set wave at the outter reef.

I am still wondering why Sam is looking back at me? Does he not see that pit?

The tide was dropping really fast, rocks were showing and that meant it was time to come in. Unfortunately its just too dangerous now.

I love sitting back and shooting empty waves, thinking just what could have been.

Nicaragua Catalogue Photo Shoot

2010-06-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

I'm back in Nicaragua again with Ripzone, shooting their spring and summer clothing catalogue. Along with team manager Geoff Andruik and the team riders, I left Vancouver Sunday night on the red eye hell ride to arrive in Manauga early Monday morning. We headed straight to the beach, dropped off our bags and checked the surf. Swell is up and pushing 8+ foot. A little too big for out front. Some of the outer reefs have been going off....so we were told. The ol' should have been here yesterday game again. Either way, there is some surf around somewhere and we have Roberto to drive us around and find it. It's raining pretty hard so shooting is out of the question. We hit up a new zone and found some fun head high waves at a river mouth just north of where we are staying. Due to the abnormal amounts of rain in the area, the river is flooded and running strong. This creates some less than desirable water color in the lineup and it tastes a lil' funny too!

Some days you just have to lay down and enjoy the shit.

Team Rider Sam Zuegner, different strokes for different folks.

The more civilized way to cross a flooded road.

The daily commute in rural Nicaragua is slow but no one seems to mind.

Right now it rains everyday and if your not lucky, it rains all day. Quite surprised to see something so bright and clean.

For a second there I thought Mike Reno of Loverboy was hanging out of our truck. It was only Sam Zuegner. Damn!

Brain Farm in AK - The Next Level

2010-05-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

You may not be familiar with the name Brain Farm Cinema, but I'm sure you're aware of "That's It, That's All". Well Brain Farm is the company responsible for producing that ground breaking film a few years back and they are back at it again. Starting this year, they have set out to again change the way we view snowboarding with bigger mountains, steeper lines and larger gaps. I was lucky enough to travel with them a bit this season. I recently returned from AK where I was able to shoot the craziest and most progressive snowboarding ever. Your gonna have to wait another year to see this new film titled "Flight" but in the meantime here are a few out takes from some of our down days during our month of shooting.

Travis Rice takes everything to the extreme. 50 calibre round and what it does to propane tanks.

Mark Landvik takes his turn behind the 50 cal. sniper rifle.

Myself and filmer Gabe Langois take a moment for ourselves. Not too common when working on this type of project. Notice my AK face, I really wanted to fit in up there.

Even though we brought our own food up there, one night was fend for yourself night. Most of us chose the use of a shot gun, not Travis.

Producer Curt Morgan and Mark Landvik get comfortable before heading into the bushes for a month.

15lb bombs to drop a few cornices that were getting in our way. I think Brain Farm is French for "Blow Shit Up".

No ones denies that our family is dysfunctional.

2010 Transworld SNOWboarding Team Shootout

2010-04-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Its spring time and the busiest time of year for me. You wont be getting a lot of updates here since I barely have time to sleep. Its been a great season for me, I've spent the majority of it in Whistler but it's not even close to done. Right now I am at Bear Mountain in sunny California working with the Rome team on the second round of the Team Shootout. Last year we won and have a lot to live up to. Check out the video of what we've been up to.

Top secret day 1 from www.helgasons.com on Vimeo.

Travis Rice on Justin Timberlake.com

2010-03-11T16:27:00.000-08:00

"Travis Rice is the type of dude who can make linebacker-sized men pee themselves and/or scream like girls. After all, the US Open/X-Games/Icer Air medal-winning snowboarder is commonly known for doing jaw-dropping stuff like this........and making it look easy"

Check out the full interview and more photos here.

Olympic Halfpipe Venue Looking Bad.

2010-01-23T17:44:00.000-08:00

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Winter Games officials have given up on any help from Mother Nature and will now be trucking in snow for the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events at Cypress Mountain, on Vancouver's North Shore. The forecast for the week ahead suggests that there will be no new snow for the mountain, nor will it get cold enough to allow them to make any, the organizers said Wednesday after their final board meeting before next month's Games. "We are planning that we will not have snow," said Cathy Priestner Allinger, executive vice-president of sport and Games operations for the organizing committee, known as VANOC. Contingency plans are now being rolled out which include using straw and wood to take the place of snow to build the base for the courses. But Priestner Allinger says they believe there is enough snow elsewhere on the mountain and they will use trucks, snow cats and if necessary helicopters to move snow to the event sites. "We are going to create a fantastic field of play and we are just doing it a little differently than we had originally planned," she said.

These are the grandstands for the halfpipe event.

Can we still deny global warming?

After you factor in the price for this helicopter, just image the cost for each bail of hay.

Dr. Seuss Re-Visited

2009-11-17T09:56:00.000-08:00

Back in 2007 I was lucky enough to have the chance to shoot with Jeremy Jones up in Alaska. While flying around looking for lines that he wanted to ride we stumbled upon this feature, later to be named Dr. Seuss, that had never been riden before. Now we all know that Jeremy is nuts when it comes to the lines that he decides to ride, and I'm fine with that because he truly knows his own ability. What scares me is when he started making decisions of where to drop off the photographer and filmer. Check out the video for what I'm talking about.

Safe in my personal Alaskian IMAX theatre, as long as I don't move.

Jeremy Jones finding his own way down.

They call this a tow in, any gust of wind and all hell breaks loose.

Pioneering a new Canadian wave with Raph Bruhwiler

2009-11-09T17:28:00.000-08:00

Canadian professional surfer Raph Bruhwiler discovered what could be the next best wave on the west coast of Canada using Google Earth, but it wasn't until last week when he assembled a group of surfers to find out for sure. With two pickup trucks loaded with all the surf, camping and camera gear needed, we headed to the farthest north west region of Vancouver Island, through heavy rain, snow and hail, miles and miles away from civilization in hopes of coming home with a story of huge perfect surf.

Just a few hours into the 12 hour journey, we had our first minor set back. We just hoped that the heavy rain would only bring down trees and not wash away our access to and from the region leaving us stranded from any kind of assistance.

When searching for the best place to set up base camp, we came across this boot, proving that when you're this far out there, you must respect the locals.

Our base camp which Raph helped to clear, gave us shivering reminders of the Blair Witch Project.

From the logging road we had to find our own way to the beach and there was no easy way down. With a wetsuit and board Raph leads the way.

Almost there, Raph and Jens get first glimpse of what could be a perfect left and right hand point break. Photographed here is the inside section of the right.

Our crew, tired wet and sweaty, watch the ocean for set waves. It didn't take long to realize that the 20 foot swell on the outside was just not making it in to where we were. Next time, we wait for a huge swell from a different direction.

After hours of searching for a route to the beach, finding it along with unsurfable waves, I finally made it back up to base camp. Not all that stoked right now.

With no surf on this trip, our mission quickly took a right turn, leaving Raph excited to blast anything in his sights.

Raph bagged this deer on the way home.

Raph Bruhwiler surfs with Olympic Torch

2009-11-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Hate 'em or love 'em, the 2010 Olympics are almost here and last week the torch relay kicked off on the west coast of Canada. My buddy and professional surfer Raph Bruhwiler from Tofino, BC was asked to run with the torch. He denied, but instead offered to surf with it. At first the Olympic committee said that this would not happen, the torch has never been in the water before and this stunt just didn't seem possible to them. After some time passed, they called him back and said they would like him to do it.

Peter Devries wins O'neill Cold Water Classic

2009-11-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

Local Canadian wildcard Peter Devries won the O'neill Cold Water Classic Canada in an energy fuelled final-both in the water and out-against World Tour surfer Jay Thompson in what was a fairytale ending to a week on the wild edges of Canada in Tofino, BC. It was a story that could almost have been a Hollywood script. Pete started the week as one of the Canadian wildcards in this 6 star ASP WQS competition. Thousands of people lined the beach to support Pete-as well as the rest of the surfers-for the final day of this competition-the first professional surf contest in Canada. After being carried up the beach to the award ceremony by hoards of friends and supporters, Pete now walks away with $20,000 and the trophy of a hand-carved paddle.

Kevin Sansalone Photo- TWS December Issue

2009-10-26T10:32:00.000-07:00

Kevin Sansalone was one of the first guys I ever took photos of. We worked together for years during his long pro snowboarding career with Santa Cruz and Option snowboards, mostly in the Mt. Seymour backcountry. Kevin faded from professional snowboarding a few years ago to take a bigger role in his production company Sandbox.

This past winter, Vancouver received abnormal amounts of snow, which created new oportunities for snowboarding in downtown Vancouver. Kevin called me up and told me he wanted to shoot a photo. The idea was to build a tiny transition at the bottom an art sculpture in a park downtown. He showed up with a twenty foot ladder, to get on top and video camera for his buddy to use. From the top of this feature, Kevin told me it looked like he would miss the transition all together and crumble in the flats. Even still, he stepped up at knocked it out.

Outside Magazine BG Winter 2010

2009-10-25T14:08:00.000-07:00

Outside Magazine just dropped their Buyer's Guide issue on the newstands this month. Inside you will find a photo I took of Mads Jonsson from a Standard Films shoot as well a photo of Kale Stephens playing in his backyard, Whistler BC.

Because it's socked in so often, British Columbia can be difficult to shoot. So when the sun came out for Serfas in the remote backcountry of Terrace, BC, the 36-year-old Vancouver native took full advantage, stretching the four-day shoot as long as the weather held. It paid off. On the tenth and final day of the trip, Serfas caught this image of pro rider Mads Jonsson, 26, pulling a frontside 360 as he raced down pillows of powder-covered, corniced rocks. The best part? Serfas got to go first. "There was a point riding down when I was just laughing at my good luck," he says. -Lisa Lombardi

Kale Stephens, Avoiding the crowds at Whistler-Blackcomb

Westbeach Heritage Book Release Party

2009-10-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

2009 marks the 30th year for Westbeach, the Canadian snowboard original, and with that comes the heritage book. Out West, written by Dano Pendygrasse is a look back into the origins of the Canadian snowboard scene. Check out http://30.westbeach.com for some great photos and the heritage video.

Westbeach held a release party and a lot of the old dogs came down to throw a few shakas and talk....um, poker?

Alex Warburton, his wife Shan and Dano Pendygrasse.

"nobody knows the things we've seen." -dano

the entrance lined with pages from the book.

a page from the book on the wall.

the old dogs still get the love they deserve. Sean Johnson and Marc Castonguay.

Alex Warburton and Murray Siple get an earful.

Marc Morriset and Sean Johnson.

Photography for Sale

2009-10-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

A lot of people always ask me if my photos are available to purchase for personal use. The answer is always yes. Every photo of mine is available in almost any size and in any format. Send me an email at info@scottserfas.com with your requests. Here are some photos from people you have purchased prints in the past.

Surfer Peter Devries makes 9 foot appearance on a garage door.

Mads Jonsson on a wall in Toronto. 16"x24" Giclee.

A 20"x30" Canvas Giclee of a Whistler Peak hangs in Australia.

Hung in Vancouver, A local hand lines off the coast of Lombok. 20"x30"

Vancouver city scape printed on fine art giclee. 20"x30"

My Early Snowboard Photography Career 1992-1997

2009-09-29T07:26:00.000-07:00

Every week I get at least one email from a guy who wants to become a snowboard photographer. They want to know what I did to get where I am now. The answer is simple. Shoot and submit. I used to take photos of my friends on weekends and then send them to the mags. I shot with an old manual camera on cheap print film and processed it in 24 hours at the drug store. Then I would send a self addressed stamped envelope to Jon Foster, TWS photo editor back then, with all my "jems". I had no clue what I was doing, and I'm sure it showed. Here is a photo I took of Devun Walsh on Blackcomb in '92 that I submitted to TWS. It would have been one of my first submissions. Devun and I were just weekend warriors back then.

In 1993 I had been shooting skate and snow photos for about a year and had a few shots published in a local zine that you could pick up at the local skate/snow shop. At this time I had saved up enough extra cash to buy a used fisheye lens. Excited to try it out I took it to Whistler on one of my weekend trips. I remember telling this girl I knew that the closer you hold the lens to something, the bigger it would look. She thought that was great, lifted her shirt and said "make these look bigger then". From that moment I fell in love with the fisheye. The following day I shot this photo of Nova Scotian transplant Scott Doucette at the Camp of Champions. "Douce" is now back in Nova Scotia where he runs a record label with his boy Trevor Andrew and doing quite well.

One day in 1995 I was talking with Kevin Sansalone and told me that some backcountry hikers told him of a zone behind Mt. Seymour that we could hike to and build jumps. Only a few people would go back there each month so most days would be untracked. We woke up one sunny day and decided to check it out along with Devun Walsh. I remember post holing a trail up in knee deep powder for about 30 minutes before stopping to build a jump on a knuckle we found. I set up and starting shooting. Devun yelled for me to come up to where he was dropping in from and have a look. Wow, you can see the city from here! I spent the rest of the session shooting from behind showcasing Vancouver in the background. It was on this day that the "city-booter" was born and from that day on, countless pros and wannabes have hiked this popular zone, turning the Seymour Backcountry into a household name.

In 1997, a group of us built this jump for the first time in the Mt. Seymour Backcountry and had Ross Steffy there to film it for Mack Dawg. Our crew was Rob Dow, Devun Walsh, Graham Clements and visiting pro Joey McGuire. Devun and Joey killed it with all kinds of 3's and 5's while Dow launched picture perfect methods for my camera. He wasn't too concerned about the video shot since he didn't have a spot in the movie. This photo was published as a Vans ad and won the "best ad" award in a Visual Arts magazine. Later that year, a photo I shot of Joey ended up on the cover of Snowboarder Magazine, and ever since the jump has been known as the McGuire hit.

For a few years around 1998 Rob Dow and Devun Walsh shared a basement suite of a house. Upstairs lived Dave Cashen and Graham Clements. This house, on Chesterfield Avenue in North Vancouver was known in the local snowboard community as the Chesterfield House. These guys didn't hold parties at the Chesterfield house, parties found the Chesterfield house. Every night was a new adventure, you just never knew who was gonna show up and what was gonna be lit on fire, stolen, broken or flipped upside down. One night we were all hanging out drinking and cabbed it downtown for the last 2 hours of the hip hop night at the Red Lounge. When we returned to the house all the doors downstairs were broken off the hinges and laying in the front yard. The kitchen floor was covered in broken glass and no one had any idea what happened. Just another weird night at the Chesterfield house. The next morning we woke up to sunny skies and headed to Whistler to shoot photos. I remember riding up the peak chair with Dev and he told me that he was still pretty drunk and not down to shoot. Until he got off the chair that is, and saw this cliff waiting for him on the backside. This was a pretty big cliff to stomp when your cross eyed.

Lucas Debari Photo - TWS October Issue

2009-09-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

This photo of Lucas Debari was shot in one of Whistler's best backcountry spots. It has almost every type of terrain all easily accessible by snowmoblie.

This particular day in March started from the Mohawk gas station in the Whistler Creekside at 5 am. After stocking up on the days gas and food we rode about 10 km into the backcountry. We were the first crew up and had our pick of all the best jumps and cliffs. We started off with a few easy pat-down cliffs that took only a few minutes to shoot before heading to a spot where the crew wanted to build a huge jump. That was also very successful. While sitting on the lake having lunch, I looked over and started thinking of how this line of spines could be ridden. The angle to shoot was right from where my sled was parked. I thought maybe someone could come in from the left and make a few turns down the main spine. I brought it up with the crew and they were down. Lucas got to the top and said fuck it, I'm just gonna point it from here! Music to any photographers ears. He dropped in, straight lined it and air'd out at the bottom. Wow. He was so pumped that he went back up and air'd into the pocket and then air'd back out. That's that shot you will see in the People Creative movie this year, however the first photo without any tracks happens to be much better and is the photo here that was published in the October issue of TWS.

Endeavor Snowboards Pop-Up Shop

2009-09-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Recently Max Jenke, Rob Dow and I built an Endeavor Snowboards pop-up shop inside of Canada's number one retail store, The Boardroom in Vancouver, BC. Come on down and check it out.

Story Behind The Shoot Out Photos

2009-09-03T10:56:00.001-07:00

This is a video that Joe Carlino made with me about some of my photos that won the TWS Team Shoot Out. You can view the feature on TWS.

Transworld Snowboarding Cover Shoot

2009-08-15T09:00:00.000-07:00

This season the editors at Transworld Snowboarding Magazine have decided that a photo of the latest and greatest product will be showcased on the cover, instead of your typical action photo that you saw for the past 20 or so years. With weeks of debates on how the product was going to be shot, the photo was now past due and needed to be shot now. I assisted photo editor Nick Hamilton on the job along with TWS art director Dustin Koop and associate art dude John Antoski. The original idea was to shoot all the product together highlighting specific features of the product with antique magnifying glasses. After hours of "try this and try that, no move it here no move it there" we had to give up on the idea and move on. It just didn't feel right, and sometimes ideas work better on paper than in the studio. In the end we decided on a completely different look. The photos were shot and sent back to the art department for layout. Checkout this cover photo and all the latest in snowboard gear in the 2010 TWS buyers guide hitting newsstands August 18th.

Koop and Antoski.

It just doesn't feel right, does it?

Collecting ideas back on the computer.

I stand in as the extremely talented boot holder.

The old flying goggle technique. Is that a beer toque?

ESPN photo

2009-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of Sam Zuegner, published by ESPN in there July Zoom photo gallery. The photo was shot in Nicaragua during the Ripzone catalogue photo shoot I did back in June.

Benji Ritchie Photo - TWS September Issue

2009-08-03T09:00:00.000-07:00

This photo of Benji was published in the first issue of Transworld Snowboarding this season in the framed section. Its one of my favorites from this season.

Whistler had a lot less snow this year and a lot more sun. It made for a pretty good season since I was able to shoot more (more sun = more photos) and due to the lack of snow we ended up shooting new features, creating more variety from years past.

This new jump was surprisingly a quick build and the riders (Rencz, Ritchie, Lyall and White) were amped to hit it. I spent at least an hour searching for a spot to shoot from (there was no obvious angle for it) before I decided to hike down the steep face on the side for a look. It was a little sketchy going down since the face was in full sun and starting to bake, and with me stomping around there was a chance of it sliding. It didn't.

Mikey Rencz hit it first and tried a cab 9. Holy shit he went big, I thought he was aiming for a landing spot a bit higher. I guess it rolls over so much that landing higher is almost impossible. With a bit of a hand drag, the crew agreed to let him hit it one more time before the others would start in. Again, huge and no land. Benji was up next and threw this cab 9 (the mag says 7 but its a misprint) and stomped it! I think Mikey stomped his next try.

In reality, you spend 10 days in less than ideal light, snow and location in order to get a day like this. The thing is, it's always worth it.

SBC Surf Cover

2009-07-31T06:41:00.000-07:00

Today I received a phone call and an email from photo editor Jeremy Koreski. He told me that a photo I took in Nicaragua this spring while shooting for Ripzone will be used on the summer cover on SBC Surf. The photo is of Australian transplant Shannon Brown, who now calls Tofino, British Columbia home. The photo was shot from the beach with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III and 600mm lens. This is my first surf cover and it has been one of my biggest goals since I started to surf surf a few years ago.

Appearance on Fuel TV's "The Daily Habit"

2009-07-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

Check out The Daily Habit on August 11th starring Bjorn Leines, LNP, Nick Hamilton, Clayton Shoemaker and myself. We went on the show to promote winning the Team Shoot Out, the new issue of TWS and LNP's cover.

The Daily Habit is scheduled to air on Tuesday, August 11th at 6pm PST/9pm EST on Fuel TV and later again that evening at 9pm PST/12am EST. The show will rebroadcast the following day at 11:30am PST/2:30pm EST and again later at 2:30pm PST/5:30 EST. Check your local listings as it could vary from location to location. I will try and post a copy of the show once I get it.

Clayton, Bjorn, LNP, myself, Nick

LNP, Bjorn and the host Pat Parnell

LNP and his first TWS cover

Transworld Team Shootout Winner

2009-07-27T07:46:00.000-07:00

Last week at the Transworld Snowboarding Magazine (click for more) head office in Carlsbad CA, photo editor Nick Hamilton and editor-in-chief Annie Fast finally announced the winners of the 1st Annual Team Shoot Out. Since this was all done in secret, neither of the teams knew what the others had built, what the photos looked like or how the video was edited until that night. The 4 teams gathered in the TWS gallery for first time photo and video viewing before the winner was announced. I must say, I was more than surprised when Nick unveiled my photo of LNP on the cover of the September issue and us (Rome Snowboards and Bear Mountain) as the winning team. I would like to thank everyone at Rome and Bear for making this all possible. You all kicked ass and helped make this event a success.

the day before I helped cut and mount the gallery photos

myself, Holly and Christian with TWS arts and crafts

my 10 photos submitted for judging

Frode Sandbech and his 10 photos

Andy Wright and his 10 photos

Video I shot of the awards

TWS Video of the awards

Rome Shootout Teaser

2009-07-21T08:36:00.000-07:00

Here is the teaser to our Transworld Team Shootout video. Our team included LNP, Marie France Roy, Bjorn Leines, Will Lavigne and Eiki Helgason. I shot the photos, while John Cavan filmed and edited the video. Art Direction by Mike Paddock. We shot all this during 7 cold nights in April at Bear Mountain in California. A normal day during this shoot consisted of...

1pm wake up.
4pm drive to the hill and shuttle our camera gear up on snowcats.
5pm riders test out the feature for that night and the park crew dials in the changes needed.
10pm riders start hitting the features and I am almost set up.
12am start shooting.
4am we have the shots in the bag.
5am cook frozen pizza back at the house and mac off. (the act of emailing, facebooking and ichating on a mac book)
6am bed time.

The full video will be available on iTunes exclusively on July 27th. (not in available in Canada or Europe)

Transworld Team Shootout

2009-07-16T14:26:00.001-07:00

There's a reason why you never saw this coming, why you never heard a word about it. Because it was all done in secret. TransWorld's Team Shoot Out had four of the best teams in snowboarding-Forum, DC, Burton and Rome-competing simultaneously at four separate resorts across the west.

Unlike any event in snowboarding, the all new Shoot Out focuses on creativity itself. As media leaders, TransWorld challenged the invited teams to produce the ultimate terrain park shoot and document it in video and photos to showcase the visual power of snowboarding. Let 'em build whatever they wanted to ride, shred it however they wanted and shoot it all in any way they saw fit. -TWS

The contest goes down in a two week window, with seven days of build time and seven days of ride time.
Each team consists of five riders, including one girl.
A TWS photographer is assigned to each team. Burton (Frode Sandbech) DC (Andy Wright) Forum (Ian Ruhter) Rome (Scott Serfas)
Each team must create a five minute final video (available on iTunes) and submit a gallery of ten photos for judging.
Judging is broken into the event's three main components: video, photos, and overall creativity.
The winning team is awarded the September cover of TWS.

Westbeach Classic Re-Visited

2009-07-15T13:40:00.000-07:00

100 Issues of Concrete Powder Magazine

2009-07-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

Concrete Powder Magazine has documented the progress of Canadian skateboarders and snowboarders since it first hit the shelves nearly 20 years ago. During that time, the magazine has undergone numerous format changes. With ripe beginnings as a glossy newsstand publication in 1990-91, to its subsequent volume 2 "relaunch" as a free large-format newsprint magazine in 1992, the changes both then and now are quite visible.

By 1994, CPM returned to the standard size, albeit continuing production with a staple-bound newsprint finish that was sure to stain your fingers while flipping its pages. During the fall of '97 Concrete Powder returned to being a glossy-printed magazine, like that of the first volume in the early 90's.

In June 2003 the final documentation of snowboarding occurred within the pages of Concrete Powder. The staples that held the magazine together since 1992 were finally dropped in December 2006 and CPM became a perfect bound publication under the new moniker, Concrete Skateboarding. - ed

Now go back to 1990 when I was just getting into snowboarding and I found it fun to document our progression. I would bring up my dad's old Minolta AE1 and shoot my friends riding. Each day the photos would get better and better until one day when I decided to send them in to this free newsprint magazine called Concrete Powder for possible publication. It wasn't long before my first shot was published, a 3 foot backside air of Reuben Kambeitz in the ditch at Blackcomb, circa 1992.

I knew absolutely nothing about photography. Exposure, focus, and film was all brand new to me, but I knew about snowboarding and I was having a great time shooting every chance I could.

With every submission to CPM my published photo rate went up and before I knew it I was driving to the office to help with layout. That’s right, the same guy that knew nothing about photography was now helping out with art direction and layout, something I knew even less about. I would photocopy prints, cut them out and glue them to the master book. One big photo on the left, and two smaller ones on the right. Ahhh, that looks good. Ha-ha. Well honestly that's about as real as it was back then. Remember, this was before the personal computer.

So with me basically laying out the mag, or a large portion of it, I found it easy to sneak in more and more of my photography. I was shooting cheap film and processing it at the drug store, with no idea how to properly focus the camera or even what slide film was. But that didn’t matter; I was helping at the mag so I was getting my shots in there.

Now my weekend riding buddies are getting noticed and their photos needed to go to other places. They showed up in different magazines and manufacturers ads and catalogues. I think before people knew what a good photo was I was improving to stay ahead of them. And before I knew it, the guys I was shooting (Devun Walsh, Kevin Sansalone and Rob Dow) were building a large name in the snowboarding world and I was standing there with the shots, leading me to even more published photos. It wasn't long until I had shots published in Transworld Snowboarding Magazine and Snowboarder Mag, the industries largest publications.

Its crazy, I still feel like that kid back in the day, doing what I love and hoping that no one realizes I don’t have a clue what I am doing. Well, I have a clue I guess. I know what slide film is, and I know I don’t need to shoot it anymore and I know how to focus my camera but really I am that same person shooting friends and their progression in the sport all while building some more photography skills. If it wasn’t for CPM, the experience I gained from working there, and all the people I met along the way I really don’t think I would be in the position I am today. I owe a great deal of my success to Richard Neuman and everyone at CPM for all the great help I received along the way. Thanks boys, you helped build a great career for me!

My 13 CPM covers, circa 1993-2001.

MacBook Pro now with "top notch display"

2009-07-08T02:13:00.001-07:00

"What a difference six months makes. Back in January,

we wrote about the suitability of the screens in several

notebooks for editing photos in the field."

Canada Day with Endeavor Snowboards

2009-07-08T01:56:00.001-07:00

Endeavor Snowboards and Air Hole was on top of Blackcomb at the Horstman Hut early cooking up pancakes with freshly que'd bacon and pounding back cold crisp cold ones. I can't think of a better way to spend Canada Day than with a group of friends doing what you love. For the full story check it out at TWS.com.

makin' bacon

Adam Chuntz

Johnny Lyall

Ripzone Spring Catalogue Shoot

2009-07-08T01:41:00.000-07:00

For two weeks this June, the Ripzone team and I shot skate and surf action photos for their spring catalogue and upcoming advertising campaign. The skate section was shot in Miami's famous party town of South Beach over the course of four days before flying to Nicaragua for six days of shooting surf there.

local fisherman

watch out ladies, Sam is in town.

our guides Matt and Jerimiah were down for us, oops.