F-Stop/Depth of Field Exercise

I came upon the below scene during our Photo Adventure driving tour between Carmel & Big Sur...

Meta Data: Photo 32 (Below) Taken: 11 June 2011 ~ 2:04 pm 

ISO 200, f/22, 1/100 sec 60 mm (55.0-200.0 mm f/4.0-5.6)

But when I zoomed in to focus on that bright blue color among the rocks the foreground plants jumped into the shot...

Meta Data: Photo 21 (Below) Taken: 11 June 2011 ~ 2:01 pm 

ISO 200, f/20, 1/100 sec 90 mm (55.0-200.0 mm f/4.0-5.6)

So I thought this would be a great opportunity to exercise increasing/decreasing my Depth of Field - how far I want the camera to focus, which can be decided by changing your F-Stop.  A smaller F-stop number means only the subject closest to the camera will be in focus - like in the below, the foreground flowers are in focus and the rocky background is blurry... notice my F-stop here = f/4.5 (4.5 = low)

Meta Data: Photo 36 (Below) Taken: 11 June 2011 ~ 2:06 pm 

ISO 200, f/4.5, 1/1250 sec 98 mm (55.0-200.0 mm f/4.0-5.6)

To Increase my Depth of Field and make the background rocks in focus instead of the foreground flowers, I can increase my f-stop and get a completely different picture.  Notice my f-stop went from 4.5 to 4.8 increasing my Depth of Field.  I'm surprised that such a small increase actually made a huge difference!

Meta Data: Photo 33 (Below) Taken: 11 June 2011 ~ 2:05 pm 

ISO 200, f/4.8, 1/1250 sec 125 mm (55.0-200.0 mm f/4.0-5.6)

The same image = four completely different photographs!

I personally would vote for #33