From a small bridge on a hike near String Lake, I took a picture of the majestic Tetons. The light wasn't great, but the mountains were, and it's almost obligatory to photograph them. I walked on and stopped, looking down from the bridge. There! This was a photo I really wanted.

Catching light at the right moment can be more satisfying than subject matter. The rock in the water was beautifully lit.

I was leaving Rawlings, Wyoming, packing my stuff into the car. There was one more thing to get from the motel room. My usual tactic is to have the camera with me at all times, but that seemed ridiculous. I was only going upstairs and right back.

But inside the motel, down the hall, the housekeeper’s cart with the white bottles of cleaner and white towels draped on one side, was glowing against the backdrop of the dark passageway. It looked beautiful, as though the housekeeper’s work were noble. I flew down the stairs, got the camera from the parking lot. Just as I stepped back into the hall, a couple dressed like housekeeping staff, a tall, lean, authoritative man and a slender, assertive woman, came out of the room to the cart. They noticed me, and turned aside, becoming shorter, less visible.

The moment had passed.