How do I get the finder to stay on a particular folder?

Designing magazines, I frequently have to dip into a folder to gain images (using say, Quark Xpress), which causes me to return to the same folder to gain multiple images or text. Currently my Macbook Pro finder will return to default, such as Desktop. What I would like is to be able to make the finder stay on the folder I am using at the time. I presume this is possible as my last Macbook Pro did that. Can anyone tell me how to make the finder do this? Ta!