We asked NYCJPG what it wanted for its second birthday (which is today).

"Well ... no, no, it's too expensive."

We said we would be the judge of that.

"Well, like I said, it's way too expensive, but what I really want is a Canon 75-300 Zoom Lens with Ultrasonic Motor and Image Stabilization."

Consider it yours, we said.

"And then I would like the Rube to go take me a picture of the top of the GE building on Lexington Avenue."

So yesterday found the Rube pointing this lens at the GE Building. Remember that scene from Deliverance, where Jon Voight is aiming the bow and arrow at the deer, and he starts trembling violently from excitement or terror that he is about to kill something, and ends up missing by a mile? Burt Reynolds said it was "buck fever". That is exactly what the Rube does when he lines up a good shot -- he tenses up, starts shaking, and then has a spasm at the moment he presses the shutter button.

The problem is greatly exacerbated when using extreme telephoto -- in this case he could barely keep the image inside the frame.

But a strange thing happened when he pressed the button halfway down to focus: everything settled down and became calm, as if a large pair of unseen hands had steadied his shoulders, and a deep reassuring voice had said, "You are My Photographer, in whom I am well pleased".

At first the Rube thought he actually had stopped shaking somehow, but after taking some more shots, he realized it always happened at the moment he pressed the button halfway. It must be the Image Stabilization kicking in!

To take this shot, without a tripod, with a lens that actually cost just $414.95, is a miracle in the Rube's book.

Anyway, Happy Birthday, NYCJPG, and many happy returns of the day!

See also: Needle detail, Chrysler Building