X Games Ventura 2024 - Festival and Concert Photography
- Maxwell Thomason
- Jul 1, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 31
X Games Ventura 2024 - Festival and Concert Photography
TL;DR: I covered three days of X Games Ventura 2024 -- action sports competitions by day, live concerts by night. The highlight was Nyjah Huston tying Shaun White's all-time record of 15 X Games gold medals. Full galleries delivered within 30 hours.
X Games is where action sports and music collide. Covering it requires two completely different photography skill sets in the same 12-hour shift.
From June 28th to 30th, 2024, Ventura, California hosted X Games -- three days of skateboarding, BMX, Moto X, and live music packed into a beachside venue. I was the lead photographer for ASPCT, covering every competition session and concert from inside the event.
The Competition
Nyjah Huston Ties the Record
The defining moment of the weekend was Nyjah Huston tying Shaun White's all-time record of 15 X Games gold medals. That is the kind of moment where preparation meets opportunity. I had been tracking Huston's runs all day and was positioned at the landing zone when the winning score was announced. The resulting images -- Huston's reaction, the crowd's eruption, the scoreboard in the background -- tell a complete story in a single frame. Those photos were in editors' inboxes within hours.
Skateboard, BMX, and Moto X
Each discipline at X Games has its own rhythm. A skateboarder's run builds to a specific trick. A BMX rider's sequence has a different cadence. Moto X is controlled chaos with massive air time. I studied the competition formats in advance to anticipate the decisive moments -- the apex of a trick, the landing, the reaction. Knowing when to shoot is more important than where to stand.
The Concerts
X Games Ventura ran a full concert lineup each evening after the sports competitions wrapped. Transitioning from daylight action sports to nighttime concert photography in the same shift requires versatile gear and fast adaptation. I ran a dual-camera setup -- one configured for fast telephoto sports work, the other for low-light stage photography -- to cover both halves of the event without missing a beat.
Beyond the Action
X Games Ventura was more than competitions and concerts. The festival grounds featured food vendors including Sonic Drive-In and Jack in the Box, athlete meet-and-greets, sponsor activations, and the kind of beachside California atmosphere that makes X Games unique. I covered all of it to deliver a gallery that shows the complete event experience.
How I Covered It
The Challenge of Action Sports Photography
Shutter speed: 1/3000s+ for skateboard and BMX tricks to freeze motion at the peak
Panning at 1/250s for Moto X to convey speed while keeping the rider sharp
Pre-positioning at landing zones based on competition format and athlete tendencies
Dual camera setup: 100-400mm telephoto for action, 24-70mm for concerts and atmosphere
Real-time chimping between runs to confirm exposure in rapidly changing light
Three-Day Delivery
For a multi-day event, I delivered edited selects after each session so the social media team could post content while the event was live. The full gallery for all three days was delivered within 30 hours of the final event. Images were formatted for web, social, print, and broadcast use.
Key Takeaways
X Games Ventura 2024 combined three days of action sports and live concerts in a beachside venue
Nyjah Huston tying Shaun White's 15 gold medals was the marquee moment -- and I was positioned for it
Dual-camera setups are essential when covering both daylight sports and nighttime concerts
Session-by-session delivery keeps social media content flowing throughout multi-day events
Action sports photography demands different techniques than concerts but the same delivery standards
Helpful Links
Conclusion
X Games Ventura 2024 pushed my photography in directions that a standard concert or festival never would. Freezing a skateboard trick at 1/3000s, then switching to a low-light concert two hours later, then doing it again for three straight days -- that is the kind of range that separates event photographers from concert photographers. If you need someone who can cover the full scope of a multi-discipline event and deliver fast, I'm the photographer for it.
Comments