This series of images shows how the depth of field changes the background. When the aperture is open, letting in lots of light, the depth of field is quite shallow. The first image, taken at f 2.8, turns the far background into masses of color without detail. The darker areas are trees with no direct light falling on them and the lighter area is where some of these trees, about 100 feet away, have sunbeams on them. The image, at f 16, is still a fairly shallow depth of field, but now the background has enough detail to tell there are trees there.

For this series, I set the ISO to 100 to maximize detail and I used the A setting, aperture priority. This means the camera l adjusted the shutter speed to get a good exposure based on the light available by changing the shutter speed. I used a tripod and manual focus, which I didn't change for the series.

The twig I focused on and the dead flower stalks behind it were bathed in late winter afternoon sunbeams, so they have that golden hue associated with what photographers call the "golden hour," the hour or so before sunset.