Turn off auto folder creation

How photos import depends on at least two settings in the Import dialog box: Which of the four options you chose at the top (as Rob_Cullen showed), and what folder hierarchy settings are in effect in the Destination panel on the right side (if you selected an option other than Add).

To guarantee correct importing every time, what I do is save and name my preferred settings as an import preset. Every time I import, I check the Import Preset menu at the bottom of the Import dialog box to see if the name of my preset is already selected. If it is, I know everything is set the way I want it, and I can just go ahead with it. If my preset is not selected (or says “Edited”), that means at least one setting is not the way I want it, so I need to select my preset to reapply it.

Import presets save me from having to check every setting. The preset sets them all the way I want them, so all I have to do is make sure my preset is selected.

If you want photos added to the catalog and you have already placed them in your specific folders-

Use the [ADD] option at the top of the Import main window.  This will leave them exactly where YOU put them.