Here is a visual:
D50, F5.6, 1/200 shutter, no flash
D50, F32, 1/500, over head flash
You can get the entire fish in focus when using smaller apertures. When you use a smaller aperture you have to compensate for the loss of light by either raising the ISO (which results in more noise) or adding more light. The simple solution is to use the flash which is much less expensive than a fast lens anyway.
D50, F5.6, 1/200 shutter, no flash
D50, F32, 1/500, over head flash
You can get the entire fish in focus when using smaller apertures. When you use a smaller aperture you have to compensate for the loss of light by either raising the ISO (which results in more noise) or adding more light. The simple solution is to use the flash which is much less expensive than a fast lens anyway.