To get maximum depth of field, (everything from the foreground to the background in focus), you should use a lens opening like f...

• A. 2.8
• B. 16
• C. 11
• D. 22

Answer: (B)

To get everything from the foreground to the background in focus, you need a smaller opening. Stopping down the lens narrows the aperture, which reduces the size of the circle of confusion and expands the range of distances that appear acceptably sharp in the image. There’s a practical limit, though: going too small a hole introduces diffraction, which softens detail and can negate the benefit of extra depth of field. Among common options, the best balance is a relatively small aperture that gives broad depth of field while avoiding the diffraction softness of the tiniest openings. This is why the chosen setting is the smaller, mid-to-large aperture rather than the widest or the tiniest option.