The huge rear gate of the Jordanian air force cargo plane slowly lowers like a stiff iron jaw, revealing a hazy blue sky and, far below, the battered landscape of northern Gaza.
Inside the plane’s cavernous hold, the aid being delivered by the crew is lined up in neat rows: chest-high bundles of boxes stacked atop wooden pallets, each one bound by shrink-wrap and heavy straps and marked with images of Jordan’s flag.
As the light and the sound rush in, the bundles slide down rollers in the floor and disappear out the door, floating down under billowing parachutes as a silent, and most likely inadequate, offering to the desperate population below.
With humanitarian groups and others sounding the alarm over a looming famine in northern Gaza and hunger widespread throughout the territory, airdrops are playing a prominent role in efforts to deliver food, water and urgent supplies to Palestinians.
On Thursday, the Jordanian air force allowed a photographer for The New York Times on one of its planes to observe the airdrop of bundles of aid across northern Gaza. The trip, taking off and returning from Jordan’s King Abdullah II air base, east of Amman, took several hours.
Countries including Jordan, the United States, Britain and France say the drops are helping compensate for a steep fall in the amount of aid entering Gaza by truck since Oct. 7, when Hamas led a deadly attack on Israel, and Israel responded with a monthslong military assault.
The United Nations and aid groups have complained that deliveries by truck are being slowed by Israel’s insistence on inspecting all supplies going into Gaza. Most aid trucks have been allowed in through just two border crossings — one from Egypt and one from Israel — in southern Gaza.
Israel has maintained that disorganization among aid groups is responsible for slow deliveries of aid to Palestinians and that much of the aid is diverted to Hamas or the black market, though it is not possible to verify those claims.
One of the few alternatives is dropping supplies from the sky, a process that takes only minutes in the air but extensive bureaucracy and hours of preparation on the ground.
The dozens of pallets pushed out of the planes on Thursday included thousands of meals, the Jordanians said. But airdrops are inefficient and expensive, humanitarian officials say, with even big military cargo planes delivering less than a single convoy of trucks could.
And the airdrops can be dangerous: This week, Gazan authorities said 12 people drowned while trying to retrieve assistance that had fallen into the ocean.
On April 8, the great solar eclipse will take place in the United States, from the San Antonio area to the Maine/Canada border. Yes, you can photograph it with your phone. I’ve received so many questions about it, let me answer a few of the best ones here.
It’s a normal average day, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, then all of the sudden you see the sky start to dim, and it gets darker and darker with evening type skies. Then it zaps back to light again, quickly. That’s thrilling, especially when you’re in the company of a crowd that is oohing and aahing with the intensity of a great rock concert gathering.
Solar glasses to protect your eyes when viewing the sun, plus a solar filter which you can tape over your phone if you’re attempting close-ups. Add a tripod if you’re going to shoot a video, or use advanced phone features like night modes on the iPhone, Galaxy and Pixel to get dark sky shots. Add a smartphone tripod adapter to snap the phone atop the tripod.
The solar eclipse from 2017,. by Jefferson Graham
Yes, they should set their expectations. Even with the top of the line phones, like the iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S21, S22 and S23, you get a 5x or 10x zoom, and that’s not that close for a great shot. NASA shoots through telescopes and most photographers with big cameras have huge 600mm lenses or more. Don’t go beyond the top zoom setting (2x, 3x, 5x etc.) for what’s called digital zoom, because that’s just a bad crop that ends up with fuzzy, pixelated photos.
Yes, because that’s the fun stuff you want to see at a gathering. The faces, the clothes, the expressions.
Yes, if you use the telephoto camera to zoom in. If you do a big wide shot, you have nothing to worry about. But I’d still buy the filter. You have plenty of time for Amazon to deliver, or pick it up from your favorite local camera store.
That’s my no. 1 tip. I think moving images of the world changing in minutes is way more telling than a small picture of an abnormal looking sun. I’d do regular video, or timelapse. You’ll need a tripod for this to keep the shot steady. To do timelapse, just open the Camera app on the iPhone, swipe the left, select Timelapse, compose your image, click record and that’s it. Samsung calls it “Hyperlapse” and has it in the “More” section of the photo app.
Use the Night Mode features and Burst Mode. Night Mode on the iPhone is the second feature in the “Camera Mode” section, which you access by opening the Photo app and clicking the carrot in the top middle of the screen. You’ll see the Night Mode icon as the second choice, next to Flash. Click it, and take it off Auto, for “MAX” time. If you handhold the phone (and you shouldn’t) you can keep the camera open for 10 seconds; if you’re on a tripod, you can go 30 seconds. Google calls it “Night Sight” and to Samsung it’s simply “Night.”
The native apps on iPhones, Galaxy and Pixels are auto only. Open them up, compose your shot and click record. Ditto for the Timelapse modes. If you want more control, and are comfortable setting the shutter speed and adjusting the ISO (the amount of light the camera sees) try the free Blackmagic Camera app, which is available for iPhones.
Very little. iPhones, Galaxy and Pixel cameras can go from 120mm to 220mm, depending upon the model. The accessory lenses available won’t get you anywhere closer than 100mm or so. So not worth the effort.
Put the camera on a tripod, set up a video or timelapse, press record, and let her rip. Take a few photos as well—which you can do at the same time as recording a video. A little white button shows up on the screen after the video record button turns red.
If you’re lucky enough to be able to get out there on a Monday afternoon to witness the event, congratulations and have fun! Remember there’s no do-over the next day. The next Solar Eclipse is scheduled for 2044!
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Nikon’s newly-announced Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens and its incredible 14.2x zoom offers a one-stop solution to one of the biggest mistakes that new or keen-to-upgrade photographers make: throwing their entire budget into a camera body, and overlooking the lenses.
Sure, there’s nothing quite like picking up a state-of-the-art mirrorless body, but while faster and more accurate AF, a better sensor and eye-watering burst speeds might change the way you shoot, these specs are unlikely to change what you can shoot.
You could spend thousands and thousands on a flagship Nikon Z9, arguably the best camera for sports photography in existence. But if all you’ve got to go with it is a Z 24-70mm f/4 S, you’ve got yourself an F1 car and a set of slicks in the pouring rain.
Give me a first-gen Nikon Z6 and a Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR, or a D500 and 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR to photograph sports or wildlife over that Z9 and standard-zoom setup every day of the week. You need only look back at the jaw-dropping photographs captured by analog photographers over the years for proof that modern cameras are a luxury, not a necessity.
Optics are infinitely more important than cameras, and that’s precisely why Nikon’s new super-duper superzoom is such a big deal for Z-series users. If you’re an enthusiast photographer who simply cannot justify the expenditure of a kit bag bristling with top-quality glass, or a frequent flier who values portability over all else, then the Z 28-400mm is a complete game-changer – not to mention the only lens you could feasibly ever need! And I don’t say that lightly.
With the exception of a few specialist applications such as ultra-wide or low-light photography, there’s literally nothing this veritable multi-tool of a zoom range won’t cover. Landscapes? Check. Wildlife? Check. Sports, portraits, architecture, street, close-ups… check, check, check, check and check.
We’ve yet to put it through our lab but, on paper, the only big compromise is that narrow f/8 aperture at the telephoto end. When you add together the zoom range, portability and bang for your buck, something had to give, right? And realistically, even if the aperture range matched the F-mount equivalent Tamron 18-400mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD, would it really make that much difference?
Don’t get me wrong, faster glass is always better. But If you care that much about wider apertures and image quality, you’re probably better off picking up more specialist lenses anyway.
Looping back around to my previous analogy; if you’re intent on investing your hard-earned cash in a new camera and don’t currently have a versatile collection of lenses, then the Z 28-400mm could be the most affordable answer to your optical needs. After all, you’ve got three zoom lenses in one – enclosed in a 142mm-long cylinder that weighs just 725g.
Not too shabby Nikon, not too shabby at all.
You might be interested in the best Nikon lenses, including the best Nikon Z lenses for its mirrorless system.
Mamadou Kouassi pictured on the beach of Castel Volturno, Italy. Kouassi inspired and co-wrote the film Io Capitano which is about Mamadou’s terrible journey from the Ivory Coast to Italy and was nominated for the 2024 Academy Awards.
Photograph: Roberto Salomone/The Observer
