One of the country’s top photographers—former Seattle Post-Intelligencer staffer and Pulitzer Prize–nominated Robin Layton—lives right here in our city. But for her latest inspiration, the globetrotting photographer did not have to go any farther than her own backyard: the shores of Lake Washington in the Mount Baker neighborhood. In her new signed, limited-edition book, The Lake (self-published, August 30; $295; robinlayton.com), Layton offers a carefully curated glimpse into this place, season by season, from the activities of its abundant wildlife to kayakers out for a paddle. The book is most certainly a love letter to a muse; Layton says that she hopes “when people see this book, they will forever look at Lake Washington differently, and see with fresh eyes all the things that make our lake so special.”