Sometimes I get too caught up in using the right lens and forget about about techniques to make the most out of the lens on my camera. The DA 18-135 is neither fast or known for smooth bokeh, but by taking advantage of a longer focal length, a short minimum focus distance and putting some distance between the subject and a darker background I was able to get this at f5.6. The DOF is about one inch.
I miscalculated (wild guess, actually) the hyperfocal distance at f8, so the front of the board is now out of focus, but you can see how a little more DOF affects my image.
The board with 20 screws in it is only 35 inches long. The divorcee down the street hired me to rebuild her wooden fence and gate that was falling apart. Her ex, "Stan" had screwed this board to the gate a few years back to stiffen it up. I was going to ask my client if her ex's enthusiasm for screwing boards was connected to the change in their marital status, but thought better of it.