Vae victis

I intentionally left a great deal of space at the bottom of the photo

in order to give a sense of desolation to counterbalance the matador's

triumphant pose. Does this work? Or does it just leave the whole

thing out of balance. Would you do it differently, and if so, how?

A true moment in time. Well done!

Personally, I like tight crops most of the time. I understand your point, and I think it could work, but perhaps (for my taste) it is a little long on bottom. I would leave space, but maybe not as much. Otherwise, I think the photo makes a great statement about the brutality of the bull fighting sport and the triumph people find in the slaughter. I'm not condemning the sport, but let's face it, it is brutal.

I like it.

Forrest, I think your point about the brutality of the sport is correct. This was the first bullfight that I had seen, and I had (and still have) rather mixed feelings about it. One the one hand, it is violent- but the beauty and grace of it are undeniably real. One of my first thoughts was to crop out as much of the crowd as possible, and to focus entirely on the matador and bull. But upon further examination, I noticed that the look of the crowd does not exactly match that of the matador. Although they applauded his performance (it was apparently an exceptional one, meriting two ears anda a tail) there seemed to be real sorrow upon the death of the bull. Very stange contradiction.

Ryan, maybe a little less dirt and more of the crowd because you are right. They don't seem near as happy as the matador. This is a good shot showing a fact of the sport.

Good shot, disgusting sport. I admit, I find it hard to seperate good photography, from disgusting subjects, this one is no exception.

Photographing something doesn't necessarily mean you endorse it.