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

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.

2 Day Shooting Extension Proves Productive

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

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!

Pioneering a new Canadian wave with Raph Bruhwiler

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.

Photography for Sale

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"

ESPN photo

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.

Ripzone Spring Catalogue Shoot

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.