Leafing through the new “Around Boothbay Harbor” calendar, it’s clear why Robert Mitchell is considered a photographer’s photographer. He has an artist’s eye and can visualize which locations, conditions, and angles will make the best photos. He also has the patience to wait for the perfect time to take those shots and the skill to get high-quality images. Each year he selects an even dozen that perfectly represent the months of the year to come. Let’s take a tour of this year’s calendar.

Even in mid-summer, viewers will feel a shiver when they turn to the January page and see a dory ensconced in ice. The scene looks as though it’s been dipped in silver. The only warmth comes from the orange cork floats that dot nets crumpled in the boat. February’s scene seems balmy by comparison, until we spot the snowflakes highlighted against the hulls of lobster boats and the snow-covered roofs and trees on Boothbay Harbor’s east side.

We’re still in the deep freeze in March, as wisps of that peculiar phenomenon called sea smoke snake their way up to massive clouds. Brrr! We’ll take Mitchell’s word for it that the scene is “Off Capitol Island”; the expanse of white and icy blue is broken only by a channel marker topped by a long-forsaken osprey nest.

April offers an eerie view of the mostly sunken Sarah C in the Back River. The water is dead calm on this misty day so that pilings and what’s left of the lobster boat – in fact, everything but two hefty seagulls – are reflected perfectly in the water. By contrast, a color-drenched scene of Southport’s Decker Cove brings us to May. The red-and-white Linda Lee at rest and massive stacks of yellow lobster traps amid the greenery in the background speak of the season’s work ahead.

Mitchell’s calendar photos seldom contain people, but the June page offers a bevy of characters on the decks of a pair of brightly painted windjammers. Are the vessels as close to each other as they seem? They must be stationary, since no one seems concerned.

The calendar’s cover photo, which also illustrates July, is an iconic image of Ocean Point “cottages,” but with a twist. In Mitchell’s shot, a massive ledge in the foreground is the perfect foil for the neat homes far beyond, and a perfect illustration of the famed “rocky coast of Maine.”

He plays with distances in the August photo, too. The scene is quintessential Boothbay Harbor, with the lobster boat Apparition II, the schooner Eastwind, and assorted other watercraft against the bright backdrop of the Tugboat Inn. But could that be McKown Point in the background? The angle is right, but it looks much nearer than it truly is.

On the next page, a glistening Cuckolds Light vies for attention with layers of gentle seas and dramatic clouds. This scene simply feels like September – cool and breezy, and absolutely beautiful!

Mitchell took to the air for October’s photo. This shot, taken as the leaves are just starting to take on their fall colors, gives us a real sense of the size and shape of Boothbay Harbor and the islands to the west. It all fits together like a vast jigsaw puzzle. Autumn is further along in the photo for November. Looking beyond the brightly colored leaves in the foreground, we see another view of downtown Boothbay Harbor from the East Side, past Harbor Island to the far shore.

The snow returns just in time to round out the year. December’s view of Cozy Harbor on Southport shows bright lobster pots stored neatly for winter beside a weathered boat shed. Beyond is a landscape of sparkling snow, white-dusted evergreens, and water of the deepest blue.

While “Around Boothbay Harbor” has spectacular one-of-a-kind photos, Mitchell’s calendars have something else that makes them unique – an entertaining and candid letter from the photographer about his family’s activities over the past year. In the 2016 calendar, he even offers some travel tips.

Of course, “Around Boothbay Harbor” has all the usual features we want in a wall calendar, but it offers much more: In 12 stunning images, it captures the sense of this special place in each season. That’s why it’s so popular, not only with those who love the area enough to live here, but also with visitors who wish they could experience the region in all its variety.