Co-op Cowp*

The abandoned Co-op buildings in the town centre are well on their way to being assigned to history, thought I'd grab a few shots before it was just a big pile of dust.

Our first flat was in this street, over and up the road a bit from here. With three pubs (one now gone, one being renovated, one hanging on in there) in it's couple of hundred yards of original old town buildings the street was always entertaining and frustrating in pretty much equal doses. Three karaokes going at the same time over the weekend meant it wasn't wise keeping any windows open, and having our close used as an emergency toilet at chucking out time was never much fun. Taking our wee dog a walk late on one Saturday and having to negotiate some old drunk tart having a crap was a particular highlight - "You'll have to wait son, I'm too far gone to pinch it noo." Honestly, some people have no shame. Bucket of hot water and a bottle of bleach whilst wearing a mask was needed for that one (or two, as it indeed was).

Another highlight was watching two guys smashing one of those windows up there (before they had the shutters) and belting it up the street carrying two upright vacuum cleaners and a microwave between them, shouting up at me and asking if I wanted to buy a hoover.

When Heather came along we realised all of that wasn't going to fit well with bringing up a baby, so sold up and moved on to somewhere much quieter. Happy days.

Over cooked this a bit processing-wise, having a play around to compare the HDR capabilities of Photomatix Pro and Nik Tools HDR Efex Pro. Ended up with a combination of both; Photomatix handled the alignment of the three images better, but HDR Efex was much better at holding the sun flare.

*Cowp; good old Scot's word meaning 'rubbish tip'.