Depth of field

Some folks have been curious regarding the effect changing the aperture has on an image.  Here's four shots of some chives in my back yard.  The focus point is the same on each image, but the aperture has changed from  f2.8 through to f16.  You'll notice that not only is there an increase in the number of chive flowers that are in focus, but also the background becomes a little busier and more distracting.

Looking at the last image highlights just how many daisies there are in my grass!!  As such I much prefer the first image as you can't tell they're there at all :-)

Chives, 200mm, f2.8

Chives, 200mm, f4

Chives, 200mm, f8

Chives, 200mm, f16

Here's a couple more shots for comparison for you.  This time the apertures are f1.4 and f2.8.  It doesn't seem like there'd be a big difference between shots taken at these two apertures, but perhaps there's more than you expect?  With the white flowers there's more patches of blur that I find a little off putting when compared to the second shot at f2.8.  Also, if you look at the flower in sharp focus it's rather better defined in the f2.8 image.

Looking at the last two shots f1.4 really helps the flower stand out from the background and I was quite amazed by the difference in depth of field between these two shots.

85mm, f1.4

85mm f2.8

85mm f1.4

85mm f2.8