No matter where you are throughout 2019, a glance at photographer Robert Mitchell’s “Around Boothbay Harbor” calendar will transport you to the Boothbay region, with a side trip to Monhegan Island. The photos in this eighteenth edition of the calendar are simply stunning. It’s a mystery how, but Mitchell has once again outdone himself.

With the turn of each page, we share the view through the photographer’s lens, seeing familiar locales from a unique perspective, whether it’s the viewpoint, time of day, or season. It’s clear that Mitchell doesn’t simply point and shoot; he prepares and composes; he’s patient. There’s a good reason his calendars feel fresh month after month: The more you look, the more you see. Details are there for the finding, and we have a full month on each page to discover them. Here’s what to expect in 2019.

Fiery crimsons and oranges aren’t usually associated with frozen seascapes. It’s the telltale sea smoke cloaking the base of far-off Cuckolds Light that gives a clue to the season in this color-drenched view from Ocean Point that starts the calendar year.

By contrast, crisp, clear, and cold describe the February image of a snow-covered Barters Island dock and surrounding waters on a windless day.

The March page is aptly entitled “Maine.” The stormy scene is quintessential, painterly – and could be anywhere on our rocky coast. It shows a wave that, upon reaching a granite ledge, has nowhere to go but up. The white spray glistens as it’s tossed far into the air.

While you can almost hear the sound of that March wave, in April what you might imagine hearing is the gentle flapping of the Stars and Stripes on a Spruce Point flagpole. The surf that’s separated from the shipshape cedar-shingled cottage by only rock and a low wall is quieter on this day. The Adirondack chairs invite us to sit and admire the view. This is the page Mitchell selected for the calendar’s cover.

A trio of pitch-black crows are the captain and crew of a pure-white lobster boat in the May image taken at a dock in Boothbay Harbor. Lobster traps and pot buoys on the pier add a spot of color.

It was a perfectly calm morning when Mitchell took the June photo from the footbridge in Boothbay Harbor. In this view towards Harbor Island (aka McFarland Island or even, once, Hunt Island), lobster boats share the glassy water with a pair of windjammers, one nearly hidden behind the other.

Anyone missing a pot buoy or two might want to check out the July page. It shows a weathered waterfront shed in Boothbay with an exterior wall absolutely covered in buoys of every shape and color.

Mitchell offers us an unusual viewpoint in the August photo taken during a visit to Ram Island in high summer. The lighthouse is centered between the red-roofed keeper’s cottage and a windjammer under full sail. Tall cumulus clouds offer a dramatic backdrop to this land-and-seascape.

In September, we get to spend a month on Monhegan. What better time to stand at the island’s highest point and look across the tawny meadow and sprawling village to the sea? The Atlantic stretches uninterrupted to the horizon, except for a single white sailboat.

For the calendar’s October image, Mitchell chose a view of the large ledge off the beach at Hendrick’s Head at what looks like high tide. But wait, at the very top of this mini-island, a Southport landmark not far from Mitchell’s home, there’s a heron standing tall, silhouetted against a golden sunset.

The November page shows us bright orange trees towering over a McKown Point house, docks, and a work boat. The reflection in the water is even more vivid than the trees themselves.

The last month of the year brings us to Boothbay Harbor’s Barrett’s Park. A few inches of snow blanket the ground, the stone seawall, and dozens upon dozens of lobster traps neatly stacked for the winter.

The page Mitchell devotes to an update on his family’s news from the past year seems especially upbeat and personal – a welcome note from a friend, whether we know Mitchell or not. Of course, the large-format calendar has all the right stuff, including nice big blocks for noting appointments and such. There’s also a reminder that a portion of calendar sales supports Teens to Trails, through which young people get a chance to enjoy Maine. To learn more, visit www.teenstotrails.org.

It’s a good idea to buy a calendar to use and a spare for framing the individual photos, and still others for gifts. The calendar and note cards with these and other images are available at retail locations throughout the region, at 633-3136, or on www.mitchellphoto.com, which is an experience in itself.