People of Northwest Arkansas
The People of Northwest Arkansas is an award winning podcast celebrating the power of storytelling by providing a platform for individuals living in Northwest Arkansas to share their unique and inspiring life experiences. We believe that every person has a story worth telling, and through our podcast, we aim to amplify these voices through thoughtful interviews and engaging storytelling.
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People of Northwest Arkansas
Capturing Arkansas' Scenic Beauty with Photographer Larry Fleury
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This episode features Larry Fleury, a gifted photographer who recently relocated to Northwest Arkansas. Join us as Larry shares his path to becoming an ambassador for Arkansas tourism, inspired by awe-inspiring photography. We explore his aerial photography adventures and the significance of authenticity in an age dominated by AI and Photoshop, committing to showcasing the true beauty of Arkansas.
For those fascinated by the technical aspects of photography, Larry provides a deep dive into various techniques, including the use of DSLRs, astro cameras, and star trackers. We also touch on the history and folklore of the Ozarks, with Larry hinting at future projects blending historical storytelling with modern social media. Don't miss this engaging conversation filled with passion for photography and the wonders of the natural world.
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Sky Photography and Northwest Arkansas Discovery
Speaker 1all right , we first just want to thank our premier sponsor , first community bank danielle , are you excited about what's happening in the sky ?
Speaker 1oh , I always am . I follow the maker of my telescope , celestron I think I'm saying it right and they always post like a monthly calendar of star and celestial events and so I didn't really think that I was kind of a sky nerd until some people brought it to my attention and not just like a couple , like a bunch , but yeah , I do . I keep a calendar of that and there's an attachment on my telescope where you can put your phone and take pictures . It like kind of tethers down . There's an attachment on my telescope where you can put your phone and take pictures . It like kind of tethers down . But we have a guest here today whose photography of the sky just kind of trumps any iPhone photography , although you've told me a galaxy can take a better photo than an iPhone .
Speaker 2Correct , not better than our guest's camera , but definitely better than an iPhone , and I can prove it too .
Speaker 1So you can ask my friends group , who , what do you think ? So let's talk , let's ask our guests you want to introduce ?
Speaker 2yeah , so this is larry flurry . He is a local photographer , filmmaker and expert in the sky . Yeah , so he's here to talk to us about just the things that he does here in northwest arkansas .
Speaker 3So welcome , larry .
Speaker 1Yeah , thanks for having me what's your , what's your opinion about the iphone versus galaxy ?
Speaker 3yeah , that's a great question . I'm a big apple person , oh he's on my side . He said but there's a but uh samsung , you know , with like moon photography it definitely trumps the apple , the iphone images , but I heard some of that night . I think you have to research this . I think samsung might use some ai . So , like the photos of the moon you're getting , they just fill in gaps to . So it's fake . I don't know if it's fully fake .
Speaker 3Oh , I'm just kidding , I'm not saying that it's something to research , but I think samsung does have better cameras , yeah but I think it was better like software . So this is , and everyone has an iphone . So if I get that green text , I know like we're gonna have a hard time honestly , I also have an iphone , so I have both .
Speaker 2I have an iphone and I also have a galaxy . However , you have to think about the name of it .
Speaker 1It's's called Galaxy . That's true .
Speaker 2You know , it's in the name and it does take better photos than an iPhone , even basic photos or the things that I'm working on . I love taking pictures with my Galaxy Android phone more than an iPhone for sure . So , anyway , let's jump in a little bit more to talk and hear from Larry and tell us a little bit about what brought you to Northwest Arkansas , how you got here . Did you grow up here ? What's your story ?
Speaker 3Yeah , so I'm originally from Pittsburgh , kansas , about two hours away from Bentonville , an hour and a half from Bella Vista , and in college . You know Bentonville . You know I went to college in 2005 to 2010 era and Northwest Arkansas was not what it was , comparative to what we see today , so it wasn't really on my radar too much . I went on a couple trips with some friends , like Devil's Den , and I thought it was kind of neat , but I didn't really explore too much . So Kansas City , wichita , st Louis were kind of the bigger destinations and a lot of my friends went to KU and UMKC up in the Kansas City area . But I met some cool friends in my hometown who would be like , hey , I'm going camping this place called the Buffalo River and so we'd go down there .
Speaker 3We'd stop in Bentonville or Fayetteville and I was like whoa , this is like this hidden world I had no idea about and it was only two hours from my hometown and Pittsburgh's , right by Joplin , the Missouri border . So I would just come down and camp like almost every weekend . People thought I just lived here because I was posting so much Northwest Arkansas content . And then in 2019 , I worked with the Bentonville Film Festival . It was more remote position , except for festival week , of course . So I would come down and work with Gina Davis and all these amazing people doing photography and a lot of marketing . That's kind of my background , and in 2021 , I decided to officially move down here , bought a house in Bentonville and decided to just fully jump in and try to be part of this amazing , growing community of people so you're newer to the area .
Speaker 3I'm newer , but you know it doesn't feel newer just because I've been so connected , especially online . You know , I follow all these amazing accounts and people who've moved in or people who are grown up in the region and get to see like they had an idea and it's now . It's like a big coffee shop or a cool restaurant or a renovation company , whatever it may be , and I feel like I get to see the conception of it fully . So it's really cool .
Speaker 1I've been through dropping a lot .
Speaker 1I went to school in fulton , missouri , yeah yeah so we used to go to like lake of the ozarks like , and actually I had friends at ku so I would visit there too , which is always fun . But yeah , so the buffalo , I feel like it's one of those magical places . I mean , I've been to a lot of different rivers and places all over the world . There's something about it and the people that live in those towns , like from ponca to we're technically , I guess , a resident in jasper because we have land there but like gil , one of my favorite places on the Buffalo , and I think it's the only place in the state where you can be like on river and like on a cabin , like on the river or on the Buffalo . At least , tell us when did you start photography ? Was that something you were doing before you were visiting here , or yeah , so that's a great question .
Speaker 3I remember I worked for like six years in early childhood education . So I was like working in preschools and you know from babies , you know newborns , all the way up to school age kids , but a lot of toddler age , you know , potty training days . So during the summers I had a lot more vacation time and time to get away and for some reason I think this was , you know , I was probably 22 , 23, . Decided I'm going to . You know I was probably 22 , 23 . Decided I'm going to . You know I got a bonus check or something for like a few hundred bucks and I was like you know , I'm going to buy a camera . So I bought a camera , went to a few local lakes and you know ponds .
Speaker 1What did ?
Speaker 3you buy . It was like a well for okay . I bought a GoPro Okay , and then I bought a cheap Canon used 80D . It was a little nicer than a T , whatever , but it was definitely used and abused for sure . So I started taking photos , posted some online and it got a lot of traction and I was like , wow , people seem to gravitate towards it and I was always following people who I admire , whether it's , you know , regionally , in NWA or OK , do you like , tim Ernst ?
Speaker 3Hey , Tim is great . Yeah , I don't . I haven't met him officially , but I feel like I have his prints in my home . A lot of stuff overlaps .
Speaker 1I do . Well , the Buffalo River Art Gallery is in Gilbert and he has tons of photography there .
Speaker 3It's not just his , I mean , there's artists mainly local and I've connected with a lot of amazing photographers in northwest arkansas but , you're one of them .
Speaker 3Hey , I , yeah and absolutely , and that's definitely been a growing opportunity because initially , back in kansas , I would connect more with kansas city photographers . So you know a lot of my friends up there , like the Chiefs head photographer , the Royals head photographer , you know the people who run Instagram Kansas City or all these really cool people who I've made these great connections with , and so you know , when you know the Chiefs go to the Super Bowl , I get to like personally connect with the guy who's capturing their images . But then , moving down here , it's allowed me to connect with my buddy , jeff Rose , who lives in Ponca . You know a great location to be all the time , whether it's snow , rain .
Speaker 3The leaves are changing , summertime's coming . He's there before other people and he's a great photographer .
Speaker 1Ponca's the dream .
Speaker 3Yeah , and Tim Ernst also has that kind of luxury of being out there and I kind of see him as like an Ansel Adams of sorts in terms of like he's one of the pioneers of like capturing the region , oh yeah , and showcasing it . So he's very much . You go into any bookstore in the region . Tim Ernst and you look , there's a Tim Ernst book somewhere . He's really good at publicizing what he's captured , and people you know recognize his name for that .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , the Boxley Valley , that's the unicorn . You'll , you know , recognize his name for that . Oh yeah , the boxley valley , that's the unicorn . You'll never find land go on sale in the boxley valley . It'll be taken , it'll be passed down indefinitely . I'm pretty sure . I believe that .
Speaker 3Yeah , I've looked over there and I saw like maybe one house , like it's so small , but it's a tiny little thing and it's super pricey and I think it's off the market real quick so yeah , but yeah , that is like the heaven on earth up here . When I first discovered Boxley and Ponca , I was like wait , this exists .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 3And I just love how the Buffalo River is conserved and it's the first non-damned river in the state and the first national river , so there's just so much , uh , beauty around it . Neil compton , you know , is a big name behind , preserving that all those years ago .
Speaker 1So so did you get into space photography just because of being out there , because it is such a dark sky ?
Speaker 3yeah , so for me , yeah , astrophotography , space photography kind of overlapped with my landscape photography , and I think the big initial thing was I saw some amazing photos of , like the Milky Way people posting from other kind of dark zones and the only real dark zone in this region of the country is the Buffalo River . Yeah , so I would just go out there and do a lot of landscape photography . I love doing landscape .
Speaker 1Is it harder to capture the night sky ? Because I've tried on my GoPro and I've looked up the settings and I can't figure it out .
Speaker 3So , yeah , the best way to do like with just a regular camera like a DSLR mirrorless , you need a tripod you need you could either use like a delay timer on your thing or they have a you know kind of remote buttons you could push because you don't want to shake your camera . And the reason is because you're leaving your shutter , your camera , open longer for more light to come in . So when you see those amazing like Milky Way photos , your camera shutter's been open for 15 to 30 seconds . So you hit the button , you wait and then it closes and you get a lot of light coming in yeah so it takes some practice and understanding your settings and really understanding lights and , yeah , so for me it's .
Speaker 3I watched a video online years ago I think it was a canon ambassador talking about you know how he did all this amazing
Arkansas Tourism and Photography Integrity
Speaker 3photography in Australia and I was like , how did he do that ? Like he's getting these cool star trails and the Milky Way , and I really wanted to dive into that . So I just practiced and there's a lot of cool photography . I think some of it could be over edited . Some of it's you can tell who's a beginner and there's definitely a sweet spot of trying to capture it and I think we're always chasing that .
Speaker 1Well , you've done a good job because you're an ambassador for Arkansas tourism .
Speaker 3Correct , yeah , yeah .
Speaker 1So how ? We want to know how you got into that .
Speaker 3So I think every year the state of Arkansas tourism board , they'll post online kind of an application process and one year I applied way before I was prepared and you know I didn't get it . And then a couple of years later , you know , after living here , I was posting more and more just regional , local content and I got a message from well , I saw a posting from the Arkansas tourism board saying like hey , we are doing the ambassador program again . If you want to nominate someone and I had like six people or something , maybe more nominate me to reach out to the tourism board .
Speaker 2Of course they did .
Speaker 3And I just was , like you know , blown away by the kindness and , um , I got an email saying like congrats , you know . So basically it means the tourism board can use , you know , a lot of my images and they promote my social media , of course , and they do that with all the ambassadors and you also get some perks . So some of the people get to you could . There's like cabin companies , restaurants , and they like hey , we want you to swing by . You know some influencer overlap for sure . So sometimes I take advantage , sometimes you don't , but some things are way out of the way , like in the Delta or something , and you're like , you know , maybe someday I'll make my way down there .
Speaker 2That's still pretty cool , though . Like what's the price tag on that ? What are you going to pay me to come out here ? Just kidding , actually , no , I'm not kidding , no . I think it's all about location , your work is valuable and there should be a price tag on it ? Absolutely yeah , when you think about just the different types of photography that you're doing from landscape aerials , your aerial photography is fantastic as well . I love it it's . I love that you have aerial photography . You're up in the air shooting down and then you have photography .
Speaker 1How do you do that so ?
Speaker 2with a drone .
Speaker 1Oh yeah , I figured I'm like , are you on ?
Speaker 2a plane , he's got a jet pack , he flies up into the air .
Speaker 1He's a a jet pack . He flies up into the air . Hey , I've seen those .
Speaker 3okay , he's a paraglider , arkansas is definitely unique because we have so many airports in such a small region . So within Bentonville you have two or three and Rogers has a couple . There's Drakefield down in Fayetteville . So I have my drone pilot's license certification . It's called a Part 107 . So you get these part names in terms of like your license , like what you're qualified to do based off your testing and you could be , you know , man pilot , unmanned , whatever it may be . So I have to ask for permission , understand the airspace around here , based off of where airplanes fly and then some of my photos . You know I might have to physically get an airplane and there's a lot of cool opportunities where there's a lot of these small composite planes that you get a you pay a few hundred bucks and you can fly around the buffalo . Or you know parts where you can't fly a drone sounds so cool right , it's noted .
Speaker 3Don't fly your drone over the buffalo . Really it's illegal unless you have , like , permission from the national park service , the faa . Is it because of the wildlife ? Yeah , it's the wildlife and it's any national park , so you can't just go into like any you know , grand canyon or anything , and you'll get in a huge trouble . Usually , if you post it , the faa will find out somehow and they'll call you and say like hey just take it down .
Speaker 3There's lots of videos online with , like some random number called me a government number . I don't know how they got a hold of me . It's like , well , your drone's registered with the government , so they'll figure it out , and people , if you post something , it's kind of a policing thing and for me I try not to get too involved with that because it's kind of like seatbelt laws , like if I see you without it , that's on you , but it's probably advised you should , you know , do the right thing . But yeah , I appreciate you saying the thing about the drone shots and aerial shots . It's , for me , photography is . There's a lot of cool things in the region here and it's been captured a million different ways , but some of them are the same sort of images you see , like a straightforward .
Speaker 1I would agree with that , like with hawksbill craig .
Speaker 3Hawksbill , craig , you see a lot of similar shots . Or , like you know , the chapels and I have the springs , or bella vista , yeah , and they're beautiful . Everyone should capture it . I totally am about that .
Speaker 3But for me it's like how do I stand out , be unique , what's different angles people haven't seen , whether that's from above or from farther away perspective or , you know , getting into macro photography , getting closer up and showcasing more detail . So a lot of photography is just like playing around with what's fun for me , what looks cool and um . In a world of kind of ai and photoshop , I try to be as middle ground as possible . I try to showcase what's really there , because I want people , if they see it , to be like I want to come visit you and you know bentonville or rogers fayetteville , like I . I don't want them to see like , wow , that's super cool , and then they get here and it's not what it actually is yeah , it doesn't look anything , because I see , you know milky way photos that you definitely have been like yes , composited , orited and then people get out there like , yeah , it looks nothing like this .
Speaker 3Or my camera , I have the same settings and they Photoshopped it a little bit . Or when certain astronomical events happen , like comets or asteroids or meteor showers , people think where can I see this ? Oh , there's a lot of city light in Bentonville . You have to go a little farther . So you have to be sure what you're seeing is truthful in Bentonville . You have to go a little farther , so you have to be sure what you're seeing is truthful . And for me , I'm trying to really showcase that in the world of AI and these kind of , you're not sure what's real or not on the internet .
Speaker 2That's great . That just shows that you have a lot of integrity in your art and really showing people what they would see if they would go out there . What is , out of the different types of photography that you're doing , what is your favorite and why ?
Speaker 3Yeah , and I've done it seems like everything , and you can ask any photographer this question , right , and they're all going to have very specific and different answers , because I've done weddings and events and after doing weddings I'm like this is too stressful for me Never again .
Speaker 2You know I've taken photos of .
Speaker 3Yeah , and you're a photographer , you understand of like you capture images of somebody in a wedding . It's their big day , there's time crunches and the bride might be like hey , my face looked weird and I'm like is that on me ? Is that on ? The light Is it on you , is it ? Yeah ? So yeah , totally .
Speaker 4And I've had people say that to me .
Speaker 1Why are you making me look ?
Speaker 2good or bad You're like you can put the filter on yourself . Yeah , you really need to .
Speaker 3And then there's you know all these copyright battles of like I see like it's okay if you post your photos online , or my photos online , but who shares it and who doesn't ? So for me , landscape is my favorite , just because it's always there . It's always changing seasonally , but it's always beautiful . The landscape doesn't necessarily talk back if something's like hey , this photo wasn't great . But if you take photos of people , they're like if they're friends , they might distance themselves for a little bit , like I don't like those photos you took of me . Or if you take great photos of them , they're like yes , let's connect more . So where's landscape ? It's just like it gives you a chance to practice and become better and better without like feeling beat up about yourself . So Danielle probably .
Speaker 2I'm not not a photographer , but she would know because , yeah , no , I definitely .
Speaker 2That is pretty on point yeah , as far as when you do a photo shoot with people and they have expectations and whether those expectations are met , or you exceed them or you don't meet what they're expecting , it really does determine on how they interact with you and it's a very interesting , you know . But yeah , landscape photography is is a really it's a different and interesting space to be in . I've done a little bit of landscape . It's not my jam , but that's fine , I enjoy it , love it .
Speaker 2I think your photography is fantastic , obviously why we wanted to have you on the show um , but yeah , that's really cool to hear that yeah , and it falls into , you know , the astrophotography .
Speaker 3Like anything , I'm a big , just lover of the outside , like anything outdoors . So if it's cloudy , I could be like landscape . If the sky is clear at night , let's do some astrophotography . If there's storms rolling is clear at night , let's do some astrophotography . If there's storms rolling through , let's storm chase , let's do some weather-focused content . So for me , there's always something out there . It's not like , oh , it's raining , I can't go out . It's like , yeah , it's raining , let's go to Ponca and find a waterfall . Oh , it's been dry .
Speaker 2Oh yeah , yeah , the sun's out . Let's try to get some sunspot photography . You know I love that . Yeah , I think that's really great . I think you need to .
Speaker 1I think danielle needs to go on an excursion with you and learn about photography because I have looked up and tried to get my gopro to do a time lapse . When I went to the dark sky festival last year at bear creek I was like I looked up all the settings .
Speaker 1I'm terrible with this gopro I I literally can't even use it because I just could be finicky if you're not used to no and I , so I set it up to do the time lapse , I leave it out , I come back the next morning and it was just like one blur . I was like , okay , this did not work . Well , I'm done with this . Yeah , here's the thing , though , too .
Speaker 2Is that one of the things that he said early earlier on here in this episode about the shutter practice ? Yeah , I have to keep practicing , I think you guys need to come up with .
Speaker 1Maybe you need to do a free youtube channel tutorial . It doesn't have to be free . It could be a subscription base , because I would pay if someone
Astro Photography Technique Discussion
Speaker 1could just tell me what to do , because , yeah , I want to capture it so badly , I mean , I can't .
Speaker 2I already have a plan for you guys , like I already have a plan . Larry's going to come out to your land out . Yeah Well , take some pictures of even you know I'll come out to , I'll take some pictures of your family , so he doesn't have to do the people stuff , and then he's going to show you how to capture a canoe . Elliot's tattoo . He has a tattoo of the buffalo . It's a buffalo with the actual star right where we're going , it's done , we're doing it , okay so .
Speaker 1I had an idea , and I know this is a little off topic , but it is about photography . Okay so . I have two German Shepherds , I have a husband , two kids and we always do these happy family photos . But I had this and I had an idea about something that I want . Daniel , we need to talk about sidebar . What do you think about taking those old world photos where no one's smiling , and then we've got the shepherd on each side and we kind of dress , all yeah .
Speaker 2You know , I follow a photographer on Instagram that takes I want one of those .
Speaker 1I meant to ask Australia or something , and then when I make it big , I'm going to have it painted or something .
Speaker 3You know what I mean . I went to Silver . Dollar City and took one of those old timey photos and they put you in the outfits and you don't smile .
Speaker 2I love those . I love those , jeff , and I have some of those too , Totally fun so you guys are on board with that .
Speaker 1Yeah , go for it . It's cool , right ?
Speaker 2For sure it's 100% cool and it's whatever you want . It doesn't matter , even if it isn't cool , if you like it and you want it for your house , then you should do it . I think that's the important piece of things . I'm going to do it .
Speaker 1That's my goal this year . I'm going to get that done and I'm going to figure out how to take . I'm going to the dark sky festival again . You guys should go . It's really cool now . It is a lot of sky nerds . However , that sounds people bring homemade telescopes . Yeah , and I was told last year I was the only . I was the first female . They've only done it . I think it was the third year to ever bring her own telescope . It's always been men that bring their telescopes .
Speaker 1Look at you , oh I , there was a lot of older men that wanted to talk to me about my telescope . What kind of telescope is ? Some like 70 millimeter , you know refractor look at my dobsonian , I know I know my they'd be like . You want to come look at my telescope .
Speaker 2My husband's like no stay away , stay here at least like no , they're all really nice people .
Speaker 1No one was creepy but it was funny because everyone really geeks out over telescopes . But I'm telling you , people make these telescopes and they're crazy looking and the photography that they get I'm very envious of , because I my goal is to do that successfully , because , you're right , I'll see these pictures they post and I'm like my pictures don't look like that , like did you photoshop ? Well ?
Speaker 3like I do , a deep space which is more aligned with what you're saying like of a certain galaxy or planetary things . That is tricky because with , like , let's say , the Milky Way , I'm doing a wide angle photo of an entire region . My shutter's open for 30 seconds on a DSLR and it's letting all the light in and I get this cool image .
Speaker 3Now with , let's say , andromeda galaxy that's out there , you want to get the cool spirals and everything yeah so what you got to do is you focus your telescope directly at that object and you attach a camera and they have astro cameras that , like you , could plug in or you could put in your DSLR with a certain mount and when you snap that photo you're doing maybe a 10 second , 20 second photo of that specific spot . But then you might have a star mount or a tripod and you have to follow that object .
Speaker 1Yeah , because it moves . That's the hard part . It moves the sky .
Speaker 3Well , we're moving .
Speaker 1Right .
Speaker 3And so we got to adjust to the alignment of everything . Yeah , because it moves . That's the hard part . It moves the sky Well , we're moving Right . And so we got to adjust to the alignment of everything . Yeah , so you have to keep snapping photos of this one object , so you have to continually move your thing or program your star tracker into it , and then you have like 200 photos of an object , yeah , and then you stack them all onto each other to make sure the light showcases what you're capturing . So it takes a lot of like processing .
Speaker 1Takes a lot yeah .
Speaker 3Yeah , to get these images . So when you see a lot of that , like I do some of that and it takes a while .
Speaker 1Your solar eclipse photos were really cool .
Speaker 3Yeah , and that's a little different because you just need a solar filter . You need a solar filter . Yeah , to get the . You could take the filter off . Capture it because it's sunny .
Speaker 1Oh , I stared right at it and my husband and my kids were like you're going to go blind . I'm like , no , it's in totality . I told you you can stare right at it and they were like didn't believe me Before and after definitely wear protection . Yes .
Speaker 3And especially your camera gear , Because the light coming in could definitely mess up your mirrors and lenses and everything that's inside .
Speaker 1I guess you'll know in a few years if you get it right .
Speaker 3Yeah hopefully , and I rented a couple pieces of gear , so hopefully I won't ever know . But yeah , I feel like I could eclipse chase my whole life Because they happen every couple years around the world . It's a rarity just over the US populated regions , you might get it over the ocean or like one of the poles , so you know . I think there's one in Iceland , coming up in a few years , and one in Egypt , and you know a few more years and there's one in .
Speaker 4Australia .
Speaker 3So I was like I can just plan my vacations all around these , you know , celestial events .
Speaker 1That sounds , that's what I do , minus the photography . Yeah , yeah , now that's what I do .
Speaker 2Minus the photography . Yeah , yes , now you're going to learn some photography . I know you can capture some of these things that are really important and valuable to you . Yeah , let's make it happen I want to . All right . Well , Larry , tell us , tell our listeners how they can find you on social media and
Ozarks History and Astronomy Discussion
Speaker 2or buy some of your work .
Speaker 3Yeah , Buy some of your work . Yeah , buy some of your work and a little bit about what's coming up next for you . Yeah , so you can find me on instagram is where I'm the most active and that's larry , flurry , f-l-e-u-r-y and all one word , and I post a lot of , you know , landscape tourism sort of photography of the region , a lot of astrophotography as well coming up in the pipeline . I definitely . You know , social media is going a lot more towards video and reels and tiktok and that's a whole other conversation . But I've definitely want something I'm definitely passionate about is the history of , like , the region of the ozarks , the folklore aspect and you and my husband would be like best friends .
Speaker 1He literally bought like Newton County history book .
Speaker 3Yeah , I went to Dickson's history bookstore and bought like Benton County stuff . This guy who documented the region , vance Randolph , back in the day , he's originally from Pittsburgh , kansas too .
Speaker 4But he became a big .
Speaker 3Ozark historian . That's like if you go to U of of A , they like teach classes about this guy . So I'm a huge nerd about that and I was like you know , so you might see more history , kind of reels overlapping with like my photography . It's like let's capture Eureka Springs but also tell a story about it . You know you have the Neil Comptons , you have the Waltons , you have the . You know you have the Neil Comptons , you have the Waltons , you have the . You know Louise Thayden . There's a lot of cool people and history and the springs of the region and the mountains and the hill folk , kind of lore .
Speaker 3So for me it's like let's talk about , you know , from Civil War area to what's going on now .
Speaker 2Yeah , that's very in alignment with what we're trying to do here at the podcast is really get to know people that live here and that piece of history is really fun , really cool .
Speaker 1So yeah , and showcasing it in like a new way , yeah , it's more . That's . I think it's like making it accessible to younger people too , like through the , where they consume their content yeah , and I think there's just so many things here .
Speaker 3People drive by and they don't realize , like yeah the historical value . Like a fun example , I like . There's a lot of cave systems even in bentonville and bella vista in this region .
Speaker 3So if you go to that taco bell on central and walton , yeah , you know I'm talking about drive by it like every day so right behind it in that parking lot there's like a big cave system underneath the taco bell and there's like a folklore history of there's some hidden treasure underneath it , because back in the day people hid some stuff down there and then over time it , you know , flooded and no one's ever been able to get down there and there's cracks . It's like some of the caves might have collapsed is that why they keep redoing the sidewalk by ? Scooters . I think there's a lot of reasons of like I believe it and the region .
Speaker 3This reminds me of spanish treasure cave yeah , and there's a lot of books about . Like you know , the french and the spaniards came through the region and , if you know , they lost some of the gold , whether it was like through battle or accident or whatever . Maybe people hid it , knowing it was important to these cultures . So you might , you know , hear stuff like people with metal detectors out .
Speaker 1I think you have the treasure map , Larry , to this area and there's .
Speaker 3Go to your local library , go to the Arkansas section . There's lots of cool like historical facts and documents of like . But you know people pass down this information through word of mouth for years and years . So it's great , you know . Now it's written down and now we're in an era of social media . So I was like now's the time to kind of talk about it again . I mean kind of word of mouth . But you know , have it in a digital form so wow , I think that's a great idea , idea .
Speaker 2yeah , it's really interesting , I have a metal detector , so let's go .
Speaker 1We love storytelling , so I think , yeah , the history , we might have to have you on a second time . We really should talk about the cave system , yeah about the history of the ozarks , I think yeah , okay , I have . I have one more question what kind of telescope do you have ?
Speaker 3yeah , I have a couple so , and if anyone's interested , there's a telescope store , astro Telescope Photography , whatever your needs are in Springdale . High Point Scientific is based out of there .
Speaker 1Oh , okay .
Speaker 3So I believe that's the one . No , it's Explore Scientific .
Speaker 1Okay , explore Scientific , I think .
Speaker 3High Point's in Colorado and you can get Celestrons in other companies .
Speaker 1I didn't know that .
Speaker 3I have a Celestron 8-inch like an 8SE basically , and a Star Tracker , and also I bought this smart telescope . It basically does all that processing everything I was talking about for you . It's through a French company called Vianis . Okay , yeah , so I bought one of called Vianis . Okay yeah , so I bought one of their just to kind of play around , and it does mostly the bright objects .
Speaker 1Yeah , leave it on and forget , and then my battery runs out . Right , right .
Speaker 3And then I have a you know all my camera gear . I have a telephoto lens , so I try to do a lot of fun and interesting things with what I could do with , you know , solar photography and all these ND filters .
Speaker 1So yeah , we could geek out all day about telescopes , but we'll wrap up . And did you have one ?
Speaker 2more guess . Just remind us where our listeners can find you on social media .
Speaker 1Yeah , give us your handle one more time .
Speaker 3Yeah , so on Instagram , larry Flurry , and that's F-L-E-U-R-Y , like de lis sort of thing . But if you're interested in connecting , you know type in my name on Facebook , linkedin , instagram . It's all my name , larry Fleury . And if you need a photographer for an event or tourism or your business , you know you're like hey , we have a lot of cool greenage
Northwest Arkansas Photography Networking
Speaker 3around us , you know , like airships , a great one or third space coffee , or in Bentonville I've done stuff with them and kind of where they're being built , you know with the new 8th Street Gateway coming in and so getting some cool drone shots , and you know construction with different things . So if you're ever in need of something , feel free to connect . Or just want to have a coffee , I'm always open .
Speaker 1All right , thanks so much , thank you .
Speaker 3Yeah , thanks .
Speaker 1Hey , thanks so much for listening today . If you like what you heard , please , please , consider subscribing to the podcast so you never miss an episode . You can also follow us on Instagram at people of NWA . Thanks so much .
Speaker 4People of Northwest Arkansas with the two Danielle's produced by me . Brock short of civil Republic productions . Please rate , review and like us on any podcast platform where you listen . For more information about today's guests and the show . Please check the show notes . Thanks for listening .