Beings Im so new I usually only use auto, but am always looking at exif's to see what is going on in each picture. If my camera had taken this in auto it would have showed f5.6, If I would have went to f9.5 the leaves would have came in focus also. What else would come into factor here? Is it a matter of what size lens you use, your exposure time etc..... Hope you dont mind Im trying to learn, and you seem to really really know what your doing. = )
______________________

Brenda,

If you question is about depth of field, there are several factors that can effect depth of field (dof). 1.) distance to subject---less distance, less dof, 2.) larger f stops give larger dof, 3.) for the same camera to subject distance, longer lenses give less dof, and finally, small sensors in point and shoot cameras and less than 35mm so called "full frame"
sensors with the same field of view have more dof than cameras with "full frame" sized sensors.

Exposure time does not affect dof.

In the case of the male northern flicker, I was about 25 feet away with a 600mm lens. If I had used anything less than f9.5, some parts of the bird may not have been in focus.

Hope this answers your question.

Al Perry
===================================
Yes Al, I believe that answers my question. I didnt think exposure time had anything to do with it. I was kind of thinking it had to do with your lens and the sensor you have in your canon as opposed to the sensor I have in mine. Right now I only have a 55-200mm zoom. I have been debating on which lens I want to save for next. I dont know if I want a macro lens, the 18-200mm, or ????
Thanks again for your help.
Brenda