Poppies, lupins and olive tree  - 17th April 2008

Why two photos? Well I couldn't make up my mind.  See, I take far more pictures than I show and most of the time I have no problem deciding which version of several very similar pictures I prefer.
But today I couldn't. The lighting and the scene are almost the same, the only difference is in the aperture of the lens (top picture was shot at f/7, bottom picture at f/20). In the top you lose depth of field which makes the tree appear more out of focus. In the bottom picture at f/20 you gain depth of field (the tree and the foliage are clearer) but you also start getting diffraction which is why the poppies and the foreground have lost some sharpness. You just cannot have both (unless you are using a Point and Shoot camera with a small sensor but then you lose quality overall) and I just cannot make up my mind which of the two I like best.

You can click on the pictures to enlarge.