St Lucia Geothermal Energy – Kirk Elliott And Photography

Today I thought I’d change the beat around a bit
and talk a little about how I ended up in photography.
Back in the late 1980’s the St Lucia government
decided to pursue geothermal energy for electricity…

Back then I worked at a bank, however I knew that I
wished to go to university, but couldn’t afford it.  So
I looked at the government’s list of training priorities
and decided to apply for training in an area in which
I thought the lease number of persons would apply…

Now it had to be an area of science as I had done
Physics, Chemistry & Maths at A’Level.  So I applied,
won a scholarship and got sent to the University
of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica…

And there I really discovered photography … and so
much more!  Now the St Lucia government’s plan was
to use the steam from the Sulphur Springs – also known
as The Drive-in Volcano, to generate electricity

When you visit Soufriere and the Drive-in Volcano you’ll
see that there is a seemingly never ending mass of steam
rising out of the bubbling caldron below you and it is this
steam that the government had hoped to harness

But you know the time old story of the best laid plans of
mice and men.  Well St Lucia’s geothermal project was a
classic example.  Trouble was that investigations revealed
that it was cheaper to produce electricity with diesel than
geothermally here in St Lucia…

By this time I had completed my first degree, graduated
with a double major in Geology and Chemistry only to
return home to discover that there was no job for me.

Now you’ll recall that I had applied for this scholarship
as a means to a further education and not primarily
because of a passion for playing with steam… So the
disappointing news was by no means devastating

In fact my seeming ill fortune actually opened the door
for so much more that was to come along… but I’m
getting ahead of myself.

However coming out of all of this I ended up starting
a ferry Service from Rodney Bay over to Pigeon Island,
shot my first destination wedding and have simply never
looked back…

Though every now and then I will get a call to explain a
sinkhole that suddenly appears, or how could St Lucia
have underground water reservoirs when we are a small
volcanic island…

Well there are so many stories that I will share with you
as we continue to explore all of the fun things to do down
here in St Lucia.  But for now this is a quick look at  St Lucia
Geothermal Energy, me – Kirk Elliott and photography…

Bad Ass St Lucia Photographer