I use my touch screen to select a focal point and let the camera do the rest. It usually turns out pretty good. I agree it can be helpful to shift the focus around in a given shot, then see how the product turns out differently. It's really easy to delete the extra pictures.
I have greatly enjoyed your cat and bird pics, among others, Gene.
Another photo here where I was going for a certain effect, namely the flowers standing out like beacons above a slightly hazy stem. So I pulled the focus all the way forward. It's like a head shot with the focus on the tip of the nose, or something like that.
The plant is kinda blobular to start with, so I think the effect worked.
