If you're doing "Stock" modelrrfan51, there are a few of the missions that are impossible to fulfill. Dave Grayson (aka: Florida Sailor) some years ago had a "fix" mod for that, but I cannot find it. The easiest thing to do would be to download THEBERBSTER's version of Webster's Game Fixes Only (aka: GFO), since he incorporated a fix in his mod. THEBERBSTER calls it
THEBERBSTERS All In One Beginners Mega Mod for SH4. Don't take that name the wrong way though... The installation might be "beginner" oriented, since it's pre-set for a much easier install, but you can still die real fast in it, just like in Stock (which it basically is), if you're not careful with how you operate your boat...
As for the other stuff, the Photo Recon - if memory serves correctly, which it might not be - would have a camera icon in the star, and that the binocular in the star is a Patrol mission, where you stay so many miles within the center of the star for a given amount of time, say like 5 days. Some mods are 40nm, others might use 100nm. I cannot remember what Stock uses... but the figure should be in the orders you receive as you start the patrol from base.