That was our initial reaction, too: we didn't know sections of slot canyons were serrated.

Not even close. Not the canyons of Utah or Arizona. Try a flea market in Amboise, France, where the attention of vacationing advertising and corporate photographer Robert Rathe was drawn by the color, texture and, primarily, the motion of displayed silk scarves.

"I moved in, framed the shot, focused, waited a few seconds for the right movement from the breeze and squeezed off two frames," Robert says. "Then the breeze stopped and I moved on."

Which, we think, is noteworthy for two reasons. One, had he been shooting a job, he'd have certainly worked the scene for a much longer time, waited for another breeze or even created one. But this was vacation, and, as he says, one of the joys of digital photography is that it allows you to check the back of the camera, confirm that you nailed it and move along to whatever else happens to catch your eye.

The second reason: the slight breeze. Rather than it being a problem, Robert realized that it was a key to the photograph's success, as it animated the scarves, giving them dimension and gesture. Sunshine helped, too—just check those shadows.

Robert made the image with a D200 and an AF-S DX VR Zoom-NIKKOR 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED; the exposure was 1/80 second at f/7.1 and ISO 100, with the camera set for manual exposure and spot metering.

"When you're shooting on vacation—or anytime you're not on assignment—you're more relaxed," he says, "and you kind of react to what you see without an agenda. So perhaps you're more open to things you might not otherwise notice or shoot." He's certain of one thing: "I get some of my favorite images when I'm just shooting for myself."