An Ibiza Narrative

Cat Milton, a Curious Mind and a Ricoh GR3

[catmilton]

I really do live a charmed life - even my dreams are keen to help out, it seems. At some point during the course of the night, 
I was walking along a camino. 
On my right, there was a large, mostly dilapidated Finca, 
and behind that a pine forest. 
Between the two and with some erraticism there was a kite. 
Not just any kite though. It looked like it was made from old paper, roughly in the shape of an eagle. But two things made this kite really demand my attention. It was huge! Bigger than the finca it was trying to rise up beside, And Whoever was flying the kite seemed to be training their loft of white pigeons to help lift the kite; 
at least six of them spread along the front of the kite as it stuttered in the air, dipping in and out of sight behind the finca. I ran up the drive, trying to get closer, 
pulling my retro digicam from my pocket, 
turning it on, 
raising it to my eye (weird, as it doesn’t have an EVF - Electronic View Finder) 
… to find the camera was water-logged. It seemed to turn on but no screen nor lights sparked into life.
 I tried to take a photo as the kite lurched fleetingly into view.
The camera vibrated a little.
Had it caught the shot? I had no way of knowing. I almost never travel with just one camera, but left the 10x more expensive semi-pro camera in my pocket. There was a moment of “aww 😔 “ at the thought my digicam might finally be bust, 
but the thing was, because it was so inexpensive (in reality, in this instant, free) 
whilst never disrespectful of my equipment, 
if I had ever really wanted a shot over the last month, and the conditions - eg rain, sand etc - ran the risk of busting my devices, 
then I’d erred to using the digicam. Great photo vs. € 35- € 135 camera (eBay range of prices for this device) Great photo vs. € 1,299+ camera. Yeah, no. There was a TREMENDOUS freedom in that. Waking up, I’m pleased to say the digicam isn’t bust, although regrettably I don’t have the image of the kite to share with you. #ipreview via @preview.app (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CprcKWctJWK/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

I’ve been trying to think how to share with you some of the unexpected, unanticipated positives of using this old digicam… Ask a psychologist and chances are they would say that nostalgia is often a source of comfort and positivity. Ask me, and I’d be inclined to agree. However, it is also annoyingly intangible! How do I find the words to tell you what it’s like to walk around with an old, clunky, albeit relatively slimline 
10-yr old digital camera in my pocket, 
with no real idea of how any image is going to turn out … except its somehow like having a little warmth in ones pocket that embraces my hopes every time I pull it into the light 

(and boy, does it need light … sorry, couldn’t help myself) I could have both - Photographed intentionally dated subjects - Edited my images using vintage filters to perhaps better represent the emotional depth that suddenly attaches itself to a familiar, if not particularly sentimental, profession and hobby I’ve long indulged in, I guess… I’m not particularly familiar with the feeling of “nostalgia”, most recently feeling it when I found myself sat at a restaurant I’d not visited for a while, and there, in the midst of all the chat and laughter, remembering a time when another friend used to walk in, but has since died. He’d have liked this dinky little camera too. The warmth of his memory, when the first shards of sorrow and loss passed, and I’d discreetly swallowed the lump in my throat, and blinked a few times, … the warmth of remembered good times with him is not so dissimilar to my emotional response to this camera … and that’s made for a soothing balm for my soul during this month of using it. #Ibiza #Ibiza2023 #IbizaLove #IbizaLife #IbizaVibes #IbizaStyle #VisitIbiza #DigicamPhotography #DigicamPic #DigitalCameraPhotography #DigicamLover #DigitalCameraLover #DigicamMoments #DigicamArt #DigicamShots #DigicamLife #DigicamLove (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CppnYFHNG_R/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Then, of course, came the moment I decided to download the images and ‘edit’ them. Cue Laughter… · .JPEG. · A decade old CCD sensor, · Oh, and from a company absolutely NOT known for it’s expertise and quality in the world of Cameras (indeed, until being gifted this camera, I didn’t even know this Global brand name even made camera’s!…) I stared at the JPEGS in Lightroom. I tweaked exposure, contrast … winced, reverted. And then I did laugh. When had I gotten so serious? Wasn’t I doing this because it was fun? What had I FELT when I’d taken these shots? Lightness, darkness, heaviness, fun, freedom, confusion, curiosity? - I had a heart of answers. Bugger the noise, bugger the softness or the contradictory over-sharpness, bugger the sandpaper shadows and the juddering colour gradients. I always think of editing as being two sides of a coin - there’s the technical improvements, be that reducing chromatic aberration, or removing a lens vignette or distortion, or smoothing out noise - you get the idea, and then there’s colour, contrast, exposure tweaks etc, globally or locally. I could have run the images - maybe one day will - thru software that converts the .JPEG to RAW, that uses AI to reduce the noise, correct the colours etc. But not for now. There was only one point of perfection I was looking for, in this step of the process: I wanted to create a gateway back to a memory, a moment, a thought, a mood, when I looked at the image. And so, I played... #Ibiza #Ibiza2023 #IbizaLove #IbizaLife #IbizaVibes #IbizaStyle #VisitIbiza #DigicamPhotography #DigicamPic #DigitalCameraPhotography #DigicamLover #DigitalCameraLover #DigicamMoments #DigicamArt #DigicamShots #DigicamLife #DigicamLove (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CphwHPUNNQG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Cont… (Pt. 5/9) I whizzed through all the ‘scenes’ and ‘special effects’ the camera offered - I’d owned the Sony RX100 MKVII for THREE years before I checked out Sony’s BW setting, and LOVED it - I wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice. But no, they kinda all made me cringe, and then giggle: Not all things retro are good… I tried the ‘Auto’ setting, and fair play, it was a swift lesson in just how terrible the camera was when faced with a broad dynamic spectrum. Heh. I played around with the P/Program mode for a few days. No-matter what settings I tweaked, light metering etc, it still erred to Near-Death-Experience-White-Light over-exposure. The inaccuracy of the rear display didn’t help, And the histogram, which was available, didn’t come with a magnifying glass, also needed. I dug into the push button, electronic menu settings and found - Aperture Priority - Shutter Priority - And OMG, I love you (rush not, fool!) Manual option ... ❣️ Whilst Manual was an immediate infatuation, discovering that I needed, via a seriously tiny button, right-beside-other-seriously-tiny-buttons, -press it to click through 8 steps to set aperture (3.2 - 7.3) -and a whopping 31 presses - after a press to get to shutter speed - where was I? - a whopping 31 clicks between 16 seconds and 1/2000th of a second to set the shutter… That’s scary enough but manual or shutter priority photographers will indubitably join me in the 1/2000th top shutter speed, no ND, f7.3 max aperture “eeks!”😣 Granted, and I’ll own it, I’ve been spoilt with the Ricoh GRIII which starts in 0.5 of a second AND takes the shot. (It also costs 10x as much) With this retro camera, I was chuffed -to start, -dial in settings -and with that shutter lag, have something to show in half-a-MINUTE, hopefully in focus … 0.5 seconds? … yeah, back to that next month … after. this… did I call it an ‘adventure’… 🤦🏼‍♀️ #Ibiza #Ibiza2023 #IbizaLove #IbizaLife #IbizaVibes #IbizaStyle #VisitIbiza #DigicamPhotography #DigicamPic #DigitalCameraPhotography #DigicamLover #DigitalCameraLover #DigicamMoments #DigicamArt #DigicamShots #DigicamLife #DigicamLove (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpem5chNWQN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Cont… (Pt. 4/9) I charged up the 1st camera, and wondered if the battery would last longer than 1 shot? The body was pristine but I had no idea about - the lens (24-72mm FFE), - or the sensor (CCD). Mold and fungus were but just two common issues with the guts of old cameras. I also had to scrap around for a 1GB memory card, not my usual 64/128 (or bigger) cards. I grinned when the camera accepted this wee card, but the display showed I’d be able to capture some 998 images at maximum resolution - I’d be hard pushed to squeeze 30 photographs onto that card with either of my normal -modern- digicams, and as one can shoot at 90-frames-a-second, it would be a short outing…! Seemed I’d be good for a week+ with this retro beast. The camera doesn’t have an EVF, but a good sized rear display screen. I fired off a shot, instantly taken aback at the shutter lag. I hit replay and looked at the image. Well, the camera had taken one, and on the back of the dated screen it looked passable… I turned the camera off and back on. 2.5 - 3 seconds for it to start up. Any spur-of-the-moments shots would be a distant memory before this thing was ready to capture them. No sports, action, kids or pets - even crashing waves - then… 🙄😅 That CCD sensor also ruled out low-light environments. I checked for the malleable RAW or .DNG option that would allow me some leeway in editing. Nope. Just .JPEG born of a tiny, dated sensor I looked at the heavy, dark, grey February sky and sighed. This was definitely going to be an adventure… #Ibiza #Ibiza2023 #IbizaLove #IbizaLife #IbizaVibes #IbizaStyle #VisitIbiza #DigicamPhotography #DigicamPic #DigitalCameraPhotography #DigicamLover #DigitalCameraLover #DigicamMoments #DigicamArt #DigicamShots #DigicamLife #DigicamLove (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpcJ6d2NKbZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Cont... (Pt. 3/9) My friends promptly donated 3 cameras, which I received in early February, and there's a 4th on its way. Although I've not yet confirmed it irrefutably, I think these cameras date from around 2005 to 2013, or between a decade to eighteen years ago. Some I need to order in replacement batteries for, some card readers for a form-factor long abandoned... and then hope they'll work 😅 But why retro digicams? Truth be, if I had all the time and money in the World, I'd probably go back even a step further and return to analog film photography but I've the luxury of neither of these two riches presently... I love the look of film images. And so too did I rediscover, and with some surprise, an appreciation now for those noisey, soft, often poorly focused, over sharpened early digital images, with when used, flash white skin, red eyes and black abyss-like backgrounds. Such time had passed that these retro images sparked a sense of nostalgia deep within. What would happen if I picked up such a camera now, and with my wish to be challenged, to play, to create ...? I decided, of the cameras already received (and that I could cajole into working), I'd use each one for a month... And so this mini 'challenge', ... 'adventure' commenced... With each camera I hope to share • 9 images across 3 days, • on a monthly basis, and share my (casual) musings on the experience. At the end, the last post will be a Carousel, in which I'll share the details of which camera I was using, it's year of release, specs etc... Shall we get started? 😁 #Ibiza #Ibiza2023 #IbizaLove #IbizaLife #IbizaVibes #IbizaStyle #VisitIbiza #DigicamPhotography #DigicamPic #DigitalCameraPhotography #DigicamLover #DigitalCameraLover #DigicamMoments #DigicamArt #DigicamShots #DigicamLife #DigicamLove (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpZeB6INPCg/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Cont… (Pt 2/9) My first undertaking in this change of direction was twofold and simultaneous. I started to carry one or two compact cameras - the - Ricoh GR III (Street Edition) - Sony RX100 MKVII Secondly I returned to Instagram, ego discarded at the door, and resolved to share images that simply gave me pleasure, that more often than not were neither technically nor aesthetically accomplished. I was striving ... perhaps even ‘striving’ is too grand a word - ‘playing’ with a different degree of authenticity, creativity, connection and meaning. Eons ago I had briefly, inexpertly, dived into the World of analog film photography. Truth be, I hadn’t much enjoyed it, both wanting everything in the ‘now’, and hindered by the costs and failures that come from being a newbie… I had briefly transgressed into the World of the early 2000’s digicams but quickly - naively, it transpires - grown bored and frustrated with the camera (or as I now know it to be, my own lack of knowledge…). I’d swiftly moved on, immersing myself in the World of Smart Phones and DSLRs, with perseverance, opportunity and sheer good luck making up for some (sizeble) degree of ignorance about my own lack of skill. I’m not sure my skill set has grown much, but it has grown some, and the more I learn, understand and practice, the greater my enjoyment - and to play totally fair, my frustration when I can’t make the picture I want. Which brings me back around to the Digital Camera’s of the early 21st century… for, at Christmas time, with friends gathered, I asked them if they had any old camera’s, discarded in the back of deep, dark drawers, that they might donate in my direction … #Ibiza #Ibiza2023 #IbizaLove #IbizaLife #IbizaVibes #IbizaStyle #VisitIbiza #DigicamPhotography #DigicamPic #DigitalCameraPhotography #DigicamLover #DigitalCameraLover #DigicamMoments #DigicamArt #DigicamShots #DigicamLife #DigicamLove (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpXVNesNCuw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

(Pt 1/9) Do you know why you take photographs? I’ve had cause recently, and from many different perspectives, to revisit my own “why” across time. It has, at times, been genuinely altruistic, at other times egotistic and all things in-between. Sometimes it’s been necessary - a job where the client has steered almost everything and I’ve had to do little more than dial in the right settings and push the shutter button. But, of late, I’ve found myself walking the strangest path back to the sheer enjoyment of seeing something beautiful - remember that word, ‘beautiful’, as that too shall be revisited - and both making the photograph and editing it, so that it becomes a true representation of the moment, not just visually but emotionally as well. And part of that strange path has been to forego a tool I became rather infamous for wielding - the Smart Phone. Smart Phones are incredible. And for me now, 𝙩𝙤𝙤 incredible. The better they have become the less my personal satisfaction in making photos with them. About a year ago I was driving down a road that was almost completely obscured by the thickest fog I’d encountered in eons. The road was intimately familiar to me but still, I tootled along in 1st gear, doing less than 20kph. I held up my Smart Phone to video the scene… and was amazed to see that my Smart Phone (and not even the latest version of) was “seeing” through the fog better than my naked eye… And so it is now that as long as you’re happy with your composition, you really don’t need to do much else than press that button and be rewarded with a stunning image. Perfect details in the shadows, stunning gradients in the light and colours; no effort required. No sense of accomplishment either - at least, not for me. The heart and soul of photography replaced by computational brilliance. I was no-longer a photographer but a mere button pusher. This, I accept, indeed even welcome, for those that want to capture their lives and don’t have the inclination to delve deep into the art of image making itself, but for me… I wanted to return to the art, the creativity of the medium … and so change was needed… (at Ibiza, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpUappZNKdm/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

More to this image than first glance might lead on to assume 😁 #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #Barcelona #BarcelonaCity #BarcelonaLove #BarcelonaLife #Barça #VisitBarcelona #Catalonia #BarcelonaStyle #BarcelonaVibes (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpShWA5tCGN/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Street Jazz Quintet ... a moment in time. Barcelona. #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #Barcelona #BarcelonaCity #BarcelonaLove #BarcelonaLife #Barça #VisitBarcelona #Catalonia #BarcelonaStyle #BarcelonaVibes (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpSB9igNWDE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Hats off to this carer / parent of the child and indeed fellow pedestrians. Seemed the little 'un just didn't want to go a step further ... and everyone remained calm, helpful. #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #Barcelona #BarcelonaCity #BarcelonaLove #BarcelonaLife #Barça #VisitBarcelona #Catalonia #BarcelonaStyle #BarcelonaVibes (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQKyd8tA_O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Hats off to this carer / parent of the child and indeed fellow pedestrians. Seemed the little 'un just didn't want to go a step further ... and everyone remained calm, helpful. #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #Barcelona #BarcelonaCity #BarcelonaLove #BarcelonaLife #Barça #VisitBarcelona #Catalonia #BarcelonaStyle #BarcelonaVibes (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQKyd8tA_O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

"Nice staff" ... the mind boggled tbh. What world is this that we need to announce the once given 🤔 #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #Barcelona #BarcelonaCity #BarcelonaLove #BarcelonaLife #Barça #VisitBarcelona #Catalonia #BarcelonaStyle #BarcelonaVibes (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpPOdE5NBPE/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Guilty as charged 😁 (Barcelona) #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #Barcelona #BarcelonaCity #BarcelonaLove #BarcelonaLife #Barça #VisitBarcelona #Catalonia #BarcelonaStyle #BarcelonaVibes (at Barcelona, Catalunya, España) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpN2xupNPig/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Oh, we honoured that idea! 😁 #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #barcelona (at Barcelona, Catalunya, España) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpNVAtONzQj/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

Barcelona, for a long weekend with some of my chosen family - it was meant to be a shopping trip ... If buying and drinking wine = shopping trip, then damn, we did good! 😁 #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #barcelona (at Barcelona, Catalunya, España) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpMjpnMtN0O/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[catmilton]

I asked the AI bot, GPT-3 (not ChatGPT) for some interesting facts about Barcelona, and burst out laughing. My chuckles were inspired by both the acknowledgement that what GPT-3 returned was largely factually correct (some remarkably subjective), they were often supporting characters in my appreciation of the city. One of the AI replies celebrated Barcelona’s unique - and if I may add, visually stunning - architecture. That I don’t dispute, indeed I applaud. #blackandwhite #BW #blackandwhitephotography #blackandwhitephoto #bwphoto #bnwphotography #bwphotography #bnwphoto #SonyRX #SonyRX100 #SonyRX100MK7 #SonyRX100m7 #SonyRX100Vii #SonyRXmoments #RX100m7 #RX100viii #digicam #barcelona (at Barcelona, Catalunya, España) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpLEeY5t5Hn/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=