INTRO Project: Focus, Exercise - Focus With a Set Aperture

I took the following four photographs at f5.6 105 mm mounted on a tripod. The first is focussed on the top banisters of the staircase:

The second is focussed towards the middle of the banisters:

The third is focussed on the bottom set of banisters:

And the fourth is focussed on the end of the staircase:

Of the four, I prefer the first one perhaps because the point of focus is off centre or maybe because it leads the eye from left to right.

Depth of field is not a new concept to me but this is the first time I've really experimented with it. A key learning point for me from this exercise is that the point of focus is important for composition when the depth of field is shallow as this is where the eye goes first. Previously I haven't paid much attention to the point of focus in my images.