▪ A 7.4 places you in Maverick territory — you are making images that most photographers at the same location would not achieve because you understand light timing and you are patient enough to wait for the exact moment the bird commits to landing. ▪ A 9+ version of this frame would show the instant the feet touch water — spray lifting, wings still extended but beginning to fold, the golden backlight catching the droplets mid-air — and the bird would be positioned so the spray and the bokeh work together rather than competing for attention. ▪ The habit that gets there: pre-focus on the water surface and wait for the touchdown rather than the approach. **Vincent Munier** works this way with cranes and herons — he waits for the moment of contact, not the moment before it, because that is when the behaviour completes and the image becomes unrepeatable.