For the first issue about image association, this is being caused by a bug that I will fix for the next version. But, in the interim, how are you creating the gallery? Are you using the block editor, or are you using the Classic Editor?
- If you are using the Classic Editor, then the fix is to tweak the shortcode and add a parameter
link='page'to it. - If you are using the Block Editor, the fix is a little “hacky” – in the Wizard, on the screen that says “Configure Your Layout”, there is an option that says “Link photo to”. Pick the option that says “Image file” (I know – it should work with the option for “Attachment page”). Basically the code currently is expecting some value in that field to tie the photo to the page. Note: in the next version, when the fix is done, you will have to pick the option for “Attachment page” for this to work correctly.
For the second issue, my guess is that you are facing conflicting lazy-loading behaviour. Lazy-loading was introduced in Photonic as a part of 3.04 last week, and presumably you have another plugin that is doing lazy-loading for you.
Here is what you could try: in the options, under Photonic → Settings → Generic Options → Native WP Galleries → Layout processing engine, pick the option for JS instead of CSS.
Your suggestion for the second issue fix seems to have also sorted out the first issue.
Thanks for the quick response!