▪ A 7.05 places you in Maverick territory — you are making deliberate creative decisions that separate your work from conventional wildlife photography, and the technique is skilled enough to execute those decisions cleanly. ▪ To reach 9+, two things would need to align: the panning technique you have here, executed at the instant when the tiger's head turns toward the camera with the eye clearly visible and the stride at full extension. That frame — motion blur background, sharp head, direct eye contact — is the frame that defines the technique at its highest level. **Ernst Haas** made that exact frame with running horses in the 1950s, and it is still the benchmark for motion blur wildlife work. Search: Ernst Haas horses motion blur. ▪ Your portfolio shows consistent strength in how the image feels to a stranger — that emotional register is your established foundation. The gap to 9+ is in capturing the right moment within the technique, and that is a timing decision, not a camera setting.