You may have noticed the following tings:
The noise is not noticable at ISO400 (that noise effect will only happen at 800 and higher and will be stronger at low light).
As you are changing the angle all the time it is harder to see that the DOF hardly varies between F/8 and F/10. Not surprising as the DOF goes from 25 to 32 cm (or 10 to 13 inches). To get a better DOF you'll have to move farther away from the subject. One foot further from you subject gives all of a sudden 6 inches more....
When cropping, try to keep the far edge exactly vertical and try to bring some symmetry in the image.