Migrants wait to disembark from an Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) vessel at the AFM Maritime Squadron base at Haywharf in Valletta’s Marsamxett Harbour, late March 20, 2014. 90 migrants claiming to be from Somalia were rescued by the AFM some 25 nautical miles off the Maltese islands when their boat ran into difficulties, according to army sources.
These three migrants, huddled under grey blankets, were waiting to disembark from the AFM patrol boat after arriving in the middle of the night. The way the little bit of available light sculpted the shape of their faces and the blankets caught my eye. The only thing I’m not too happy with in this image is the part of the boat’s structure on the right. Luckily, being a dark grey, it’s not too distracting. Some people might argue that I could have darkened it till it disappeared, or removed it altogether, using Photoshop, but that sort of image manipulation is a big no-no in photojournalism or documentary photography. The only acceptable thing to do might have been to do some subtle darkening, or burning-in, though certainly not to the extent that it can no longer be seen. However, I opted to leave it as is.
Canon EOS-1D X
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L ISM USM
Focal length 200mm
Manual exposure
Aperture f/2.8
Shutter 1/50 sec
ISO 4000
Islelanders 