R Jay GaBany’s interest in astronomy started at an early age, ignited by the Apollo Moon Landing program. He remembers looking at the moon through his 60mm refractor when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were bouncing on the surface of the moon. Sagan Carl’s vision ignited his adult eagerness for astronomy like a fire on gasoline when Cosmos debuted in 1980 and soon he acquired his first 8 inch Meade SCT. After that, he followed it with many other telescopes, as did 2 years learning how to image with a 35mm camera. Kids, family, expenses and career, however, turned him into a spectator during the 1990's as amateur astronomy converted to CCD from film. His fascination with imaging was re-ignited during an unexpected late night tour of personal websites filled with many CCD images. He browsed through many images but it was the images by the Spiegelteam, Adam Block and Russell Croman that fired his imagination.
He liked the pictures of Gendler Robert that convinced him to engage again with this aspect of the hobby. Dealing with astronomy has been the most addictive, rewarding and challenging activity he has ever undertaken. He says it even surpasses the years he spent learning software languages in his home basement in South Windsor, CT. In 1997, he relocated from Connecticut to San Jose, California, and since then, he has pursued a career as an e-Commerce product manager. He has received five patents for innovations in his field. He currently works in California’s Silicon Valley. He’s represented by Stocktrek Images which is know to represent only highly qualified photographers.
