Mairo ‘Braveheart’ Toom : Shooting is never just one click
We would like to introduce you one of our finest staff members of The Festival Series, Mairo Toom from Pärnu, Estonia. This all-round photographer, and twitch poker streamer, seems to be like an octopus when it comes to delivering excellence, time to put some pressure on him and ask him some questions.
A few weeks ago we published the first part of the interview with Mairo. Now we continue where we left off.
TF: How does a general ‘day at the office’ look like for you during The Festival Series?
- Mairo: Let me first start with epic feedback of an American player who became a friend of me during the last stop in Bratislava. We shared a ride back to the airport and he said like: Man, you are the first in the casino in the mornings, take pictures all day long, and after your shift, you join in on the poker games. After poker you join in on the player parties as well for some drinks, and the next day it will be like this all over again. He was impressed by it and to be honest I have no idea how I pulled it off, but I get a boost of energy as people show their appreciation about my work and that’s how I am doing it somehow.
- Some people think it’s easy to manage and that it’s just taking a camera and making some pictures. But let me explain you how a general day looks like: As I am part of a team, we have our meetings in the mornings. After this, I will start to prepare everything, and make sure all my tools are ready to use. When a tournament starts, I directly start making some shots. Let’s say there are around 1000 unique players. You go back behind pc. Get pictures inside. Edit them. You must know every single person with a name tag. That’s very time-consuming. Because as a crew we need to be able to locate a picture in the fastest way possible.
- Of course, with time, you will get more experience and you get more feeling in being more effective and so. The tagging is the hardest part of my day because that just takes most of my time. Getting appreciation from co-workers is epic as well. One of them mentioned to me that he was amazed by my working style, as had found a fast and effective way of handling my work.
- Taking the photos is not easy. If we need a picture of a certain player, like the chip leader or something, and if you go next to the table and you check which player it is. Maybe he or she is on all the time on the phone, or with a grumpy face, or not looking at the table. So, I then can’t make any good pictures. Sometimes I am waiting like 10 minutes for the right moment for the right shot. Also, because I do not want to disturb the player. I don’t want to interrupt players, disturb them. Thanks to playing poker myself, I know that most of the time it is about thinking through situations. If someone will give me a thumbs up then yes of course, easy one!
TF: Any further preparations? What about the scenes?
- Mairo: Mostly the poker rooms are good enough already. In general, in one big poker room the lights are the same. But in another room, it might be a bit different. Some of you might see me holding a gray card in front of the lens to just take a picture. This is my preparation for the room, as it makes sure that all the pictures in that particular room have the people with the right skin color for example.
TF: What do you like about The Festival Series?
- Mairo: Already before I even met Franke, I saw the schedule of their first event in Tallinn. I told a couple of my friends that I just needed to be there as well. I also got many players who asked me about the event itself. The reason I wanted to be there was quite simple: Franke is organizing it, so there are guaranteed side activities which are non-poker related. There are always fun things to do throughout the week in terms of hospitality events.
- The Festival is for players like me, or other recreational players, just amazing. Because of the affordability. Buy-ins are lower in general and of course there are loads of mixed games. Who doesn’t love mixed games?
If you want to follow all the work of Mairo Toom or you want to come say hello on his stream, make sure to have a look on his socials:
www.instagram.com/estonianweirdo
www.twitter.com/estonianweirdo
www.facebook.com/mairoToomPhotography
Would you like to be part of the Festival Series as well? Make sure you start to qualify yourself into the Main Event or even win one of the great full-package deals!
