Capturing an Atypical Look at Getaways Without a Typical Impact
I first met Chris and Pam Daniele at Tiny House Summercamp in 2019, where Chris and I connected over some Massachusetts concerts past. Like so many people I've met at the annual event, I connected with them afterwards online. But their posts and photographs hit different. They're able to almost let you step inside the amazing cabins and unique rental properties that they capture. And their coloring is just hard to put into words. Unlike others that I've connected with in the past, I see the couple at camp each year, as they live close by. And this past year, we got into a conversation about the eco-friendliness of their work. After hearing just a couple of stories, I knew Chris and Pam would a perfect fit for an interview. So, here we are.
1. In a time when apps let everyone step up their photography game, your photos stand out well above the rest and have such a unique vibe. What was your initial inspiration to get into photography and how did you come to choose your focus?
Chris - When I was a kid I had a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 35mm camera, and I’d bring it everywhere. I was always snapping pictures in the woods, photos of my pets, and would take pictures of my room when rearranging the posters on my walls. My mother always shot as a hobby, and when the Canon Rebel G 35mm came out in 1996 she picked one up. Having a real camera like that at my disposal, I began taking it to concerts, family functions, to school, pretty much everywhere I could find a subject to shoot. In high school I was lucky enough to have the option to take a photography class for half the day everyday, and that’s where I really was able to dive deep into professional techniques, developing my own film and enlarging my own prints. Jump ahead almost 2 decades and in 2015 shortly after we started dating, Pam and I booked a trip to an off-grid cabin in Upstate New York, and I brought my camera along to capture our adventures. Once we got back home and started editing the photos, we decided to share them with the cabin owner and eventually we were hired to come back to capture more photos of the cabin. This seemed like a great untapped opportunity!
Pam - I was a novice with limited access to cameras when I met Chris. That being said, even with only an iPhone I was able to capture and create some beautiful photos. Particularly I was drawn to macro photography, the finest details I could focus on with my phone. When Chris and I started dating he encouraged me to make use of his camera with one of our earliest joint thrift finds, a Sigma 70-300 mm Lens we scored for $12. My earliest photos are stunning macro images of exotic flowers I shot using that lens. I eventually came to purchase my own new/used Canon 6D, shout out to B&H Photo for their decent selection of used camera gear. My focus these days is on interior design, architecture and landscape but I still play with macro from time to time.
2. As people who are eco-conscious, how do you factor that in when you travel and stay in so many other people's places?
On the surface, the Short Term Rental industry didn’t seem like it would be a huge waste generator; at least not to us when we were first getting started. But not too long into it, we realized how much waste was being produced: trash bags only used for two nights are barely full, sponges meant to last a while being tossed after each guest leaves, food waste not being composted, dreaded Keurig coffee pods that have the audacity to be wasteful and not taste good; the list is substantial. We began traveling with our own sponge and reusable Keurig pod. We bring home compost if we can, as well as the trash bag to finish using it at home. Our number one rule however is that we never drink the bottled water provided. The majority of the places we are staying have guaranteed safe drinking water, so there is no need for plastic bottles.
3. Of all of the cabins and getaways that you've stayed in, do you have any notable stories of repurposed structures, ones made with reclaimed materials, etc?
Many of our clients are incredibly eco-conscious and creative people which as you know is a great combo! We’ve seen storage containers turned into ultra warm spaces with modern design, a turn of the century ice house reimagined as a family retreat but one major pop out is Ben Sargent of Bent Apple Farms in South Londonderry, Vermont. He has a cabin built out of an old horse run-in, an old equipment shed that is now an amazingly cozy space, and the barn which is built with mostly repurposed materials, including an ancient toilet. He also is a big thrifter, 95% of the cabins are furnished with antiques.
4. So, while I'm certainly a solutions guy, we do have to address the problems. Where do you see the most waste in your daily life?
Food packaging is without a doubt the big one. Without access to farmers markets and being in a bit of a food desert, we are shifting our focus to figuring out how to reduce it. One huge step we took was investing in an Almond Cow in 2022. It is a nut milk making machine that is a one stop shop for easy at home use, it has been a game changer. I wish I could estimate how many containers we haven’t needed to recycle because we own this one thing! The next step we will be taking is switching to buying in bulk for a large amount of our staples.
5. In your personal experience, how do you think recycling has worked and NOT worked as a solution to waste?
Pam - I am woefully uneducated in this regard and can only offer anecdotal takes. I think that recycling is a bit of a scapegoat for the overconsumption of plastic products. Prior to my journey into reducing my own output, I would believe that a plastic bottle of polar everyday is ok. Other staples included single use plastic take out containers, plastic cups for parties, plastic shopping bags, just so much plastic was coming into my life. And because of the magical blue box that I carried down to another magical blue box that took them all away I remained blissfuly ignorant of my wasteful contributions. When the choice was made to be more conscious, I’m not even sure what the catalyst to that was, I just started to feel incredibly icky about it. This can easily get into an even deeper discussion about American individualism and capitalism but I think at the end of the day, the choice to recycle is also a choice of how you consume, but that was not the question.
Chris - I think what has worked is being more conscious about the amount of single-use plastic we choose to purchase (or take - as Pam mentioned plastic shopping bags at stores). It’s funny to see how many employees are so shocked when you’d rather just carry out two or three items you’ve just purchased than taking that plastic bag they want to give you SO BADLY. The problem is that the “recycle me!” stamp on all of these products is an easy cop-out to finding better, more sustainable ways to package items, passing off the responsibility to the consumer.
6. How do you think the U.S. could step up the solutions to our waste problem? Have you seen or heard of anything anywhere else?
Pam - I can’t pretend to have much knowledge of our countries relationship to recycling. However, over the past few years I’ve seen headlines about “plastic eating enzymes” with a potential to reduce landfill waste in a matter of days being developed in universities. A quick google search shows story after story of young people inventing new ways to clean the planet. This sounds incredible, so why doesn’t the government throw some money at that? Obviously, I am not a scientist or sitting in an office politically with any ability or knowledge of how funding works, but I just think if it’s even 5% possible it’s worth it at this point. I’m also well aware that one government is not a solution to world wide problem.
Chris - I’ve heard about many countries who have invested in ways to repurpose almost all of their recycled plastic into roadways. Obviously this takes a huge shift in big corporation’s greed to address the problems and invest in solutions, so unfortunately I don’t see the US heading in this direction any time soon.
7. It's funny. I always tell people that reusing is nothing new. It’s been going on long before we were here. Do you have any memories of your parents or grandparents reusing in unique ways?
Pam - My family was pretty thrifty, we shopped secondhand for about half of everything we owned. I don’t know though if it was out of necessity or out of the thrill of the chase, but it was naturally integrated into our lives. The useful skills for repurposing and fixing weren’t passed onto me for some reason though which I find mainly irritating. It’s the memories of my grandmother mending clothes to last longer or my grandfathers general handyman abilities that make me want to be better in that regard.
Chris - One of the biggest ways I can remember my parents opting for used vs new, was all of the sports equipment my brother and I would need throughout the years. Playing hockey, baseball, basketball, soccer, and racing BMX, my parents always bought second-hand gear. They knew we would be growing out of that stuff pretty quickly, and it was just the smarter thing to do. We were always big thrifters and loved hitting up the weekend tag sales and flea markets. Growing up, I think it was just a more affordable way to get the remote control cars, wrestling figures, and video games that my brother and I wanted so bad. I can recall things like furniture, even if purchased new, would be used for decades until they were in shambles. My parents and grandparents would do whatever they could to make an item last before having to replace it.
8. Do you have any notable stories about saving money on something because you bought it used instead of new?
Pam - I don’t lust after too many things of the material variety but I saw a pair of Bean Boots with no laces and a buckle and fell head over heels (pun intended). The boots new are $279 and I shiver to think about spending that much, so I said I would search second hand. Not even five minutes into my search on Thredup, do I find a lightly worn pair, my size, $75. Boom. Sold! I’ll have those for a long time and the fact I brought them used just makes them better.
Chris - Where do I start?! I am a thrifter at heart, and absolutely love the search for that unicorn piece of music gear that someone is selling at a tag sale and they just want to get rid of it. If I had to choose one score, it would be back in about 2010 while out on a day’s adventure of tag sales, I stumbled across 3 items at once and immediately knew what they were. 2 vintage Electro Harmonix guitar effect pedals and a vintage Ludwig snare drum. I walked away paying only $15 total for the three, knowing their worth being about $1,500. I still have two of the three and use them often!
9. Have you ever taken anything out of the recycling bin or trash to reuse somehow or maybe found something on the side of the road?
Pam - When I was working in kitchens (breeding grounds for wastefulness), I used to take things out of the trash all the time: unopened cans of fruit, condiments, salsa, you name it. They would throw these things away for the dumbest reasons. Dented can? Toss. Not expired, but getting close? Toss. Not enough room on the shelf? Toss the oldest one. It was sickening and I was poor so it came home with me. I also worked for a wedding banquet facility and when they were redecorating they threw away everything and I picked up some great frames and other decor.
Chris - As a kid, trash day was my favorite, because I’d ride my bike around the neighborhood and see if anyone was tossing out something cool! If I saw an old shelf or broken old radio, I’d grab them to tinker with and repurpose somehow. Last year Pam and I took a drive around the day after a neighborhood tag sale, and the amount of useful free items on the curb that we found was insane! Just last month, while bringing our trash down to the local transfer station, I noticed a dumpster full of scrap lumber. I asked about it and they said it was their “burn pile” and I could pick through if I wanted. I ended up filling our SUV with so much perfectly usable lumber that would’ve cost us over $500! We are always in need of lumber for many projects around our property, so I will be keeping an eye out for another “burn pile” to appear!
10. And lastly, what’s the best thing that you ever got used and why? Got a photo?
Pam - When I sit here on my used couch in my thrifted sweater, looking at my walls of vintage art, I genuinely think that all these things that have had multiple lives before living here and are now getting used for even longer are the best things I have ever got used. Most recently however, tragedy had struck our home. A stunning Victorian hanging lamp that came with our home fell from the sky and shattered into 1,000,000 pieces, as did my heart. I scoured the internet for a replacement and managed to find one, for $450, totally insane. After six months I was getting ready to make the investment just to have this beautiful part of our home back. Well the universe certainly works in mysterious ways because not even ten minutes after we were chatting about our defeat while perusing at Brimfield did not one but two of these lamps materialize in front of us. And for $50 we were able to replace the globe and all was right on our world again.
Chris - Like Pam mentioned, we live in a home furnished and decorated with almost all second-hand items. There is so much more character in vintage tables, chairs, rugs, antique art and repurposed wooden crates as side tables. It’s hard to choose a favorite, as we are finding new (used!) items almost weekly when we are traveling. One item that I’d have to say I’m super stoked to have found recently is a vintage Technics turntable that we scored for $1 at a tag sale!
To learn more about Chris and Pam's work and see some
amazing photographs of places to stay, head over to The Cabinpedia.
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Great article! I also love my almond cow! I want to stay in tiny houses in the next few years and now I know to bring my own sponge and take my garbage. I will try and look for places to stay that are more eco.