Amateur shutterbugs have inundated The Chronicle-Telegram with an impressive array of beautiful and beautifully composed photos of this year’s vivid fall foliage.

The pictures have been almost as prolific as the leaves that are just now starting to tumble down from trees throughout the county.

Elyria’s Mike Tylicki, who grew up on Furnace Street in the 1980s “and lived in the (Cascade) park when I was a kid” said he can’t recall another year when the palette of reds, yellows, browns and purples bathing the park’s trees have been as vivid or plentiful.

“Everywhere you look, there’s a picture,” Tylicki said Monday. “It’s fantastic. You can’t take a bad shot.”

Most of the photos he snapped over a nearly three-week period with a new digital camera more than back up his description.

“Even in my own yard where the trees are normally drab and have no color, this year they had lots of color for whatever reason,” Tylicki said. ”It’s made it an exceptional year.”

The “it” turns out to be a near-perfect mix of shorter, sunny days and longer, cooler nights, according to Jannah Tucker, a Lorain County Metro Parks naturalist. “When we have nights that are crisp but not freezing, that helps brings about the most spectacular color displays.”

The map may be slow to load depending on your browser and connection speed. (You’ll know it’s loaded when you see the purple camera icons on it.) If it doesn’t load, click on the link at the bottom of the map to view in Google maps. Drag your cursor around the map to move it, and zoom in to reveal more photos.

View Lorain County fall foliage 2009 in a larger map

The annual phenomenon that sees trees transform themselves from solid greens to a canvas of lush yellows, oranges and reds is the result of shorter days offering less sunlight, gradually cooler temperatures and moisture, which was much greater this fall, thanks to the near-total lack of any hot spell this summer, according to Tucker.

“Temperature and moisture are the main influences of color change.”

From a scientific standpoint, the color change is due to natural pigments found in trees including chlorophyll, that produces green plants and tree leaves. The dominant chemical through the spring and summer months, it breaks down as fall begins, temperatures cool, and days get shorter. “It starts to get bleached out of the leaves and the other chemicals start to show themselves,” Tucker said.

Those other chemicals or pigments are carotenoids, which produce autumn’s gorgeous yellows, oranges and browns and anthocyanins, which create the rich, deep red and purple-tinged leaves.

“The colors have been very brilliant all over town,” said Joe Meade of Elyria, who also saw lots of vivid fall color on a recent drive to Amish country in Holmes and Wayne counties. “It’s exceptionally good down there.”

Jerry Louk, who lives in Vermilion, got lovely photos along the Vermilion River near Gore Orphanage Road. “The fall colors are more vibrant than last fall,” he wrote in an e-mail accompanying his pictures. “Why would anyone want to go to New England to see fall foliage when it’s in our backyard?”

Some of Tylicki’s Cascade Park shots were taken as he sat inside his truck during a rain shower. “The thumbnails online do not do them (the colors) justice. They’re just exceptional.”

This week will likely be everyone’s last chance to savor the show, Tucker said. “The weather will be nice. It’s a good time to get out. By this weekend a lot of leaves will start to fall. Trees are planning ahead. They need to save energy for the winter, so they start to shut down the supply of energy that goes to leaves.”

Looking for leaves?

Chronicle readers have sent in hundreds of fall foliage photos, and we’ve mapped them out online. Finding Lorain County’s best color is just a click away at Chroniclet.com, where you can view the fall foliage map or look through our photo gallery. Submit your photos by sending them to ctphotos@chroniclet.com. We’ll include them online, and our favorites will make the print paper.

Contact Steve Fogarty at 329-7146 or sfogarty@chroniclet.com.