Speakers

Mark Boster
Yosemite in Four Seasons
Saturday, 10:30 a.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion
Sunday, 10:30 a.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion
Los Angeles Times Presents: Picture This — 10 Steps to Better Vacation Photos & Videos
Saturday, noon, Travel & Adventure Theater
Sunday, 12:30 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

Southern California native Mark Boster was born and raised in Whittier. During his 34-year career as a photojournalist, Boster has worked as a staff photographer for the Whittier Daily News, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Orange County Register and since 1983 has been a staff photographer for the Los Angeles Times. Boster has covered a diverse list of stories at The Times including several presidential campaigns, the space shuttle disaster, the Northridge Earthquake, wildfires, Hurricane Katrina and state funerals for Presidents Nixon and Ford. His favorite kind of photography is wildlife and landscape with numerous treks into the national parks of California, Utah, Arizona and Colorado in search of moose, elk, flowers and the perfect light.

Samantha Brown
Lessons From the Road & A Life On the Go
Sunday, 3 p.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage (located in Petree Hall C)

Samantha Brown is the popular TV travel host whose engaging and personal style makes you feel like you’re traveling right along with her. She has had what most people describe as the best job in the world for the past 11 years and in that time has travelled to more than 60 countries, hundreds of cities and stayed in too many hotels to remember. Her very popular “Passport” series takes viewers along on incredible journeys throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia. Brown brings that same sense of discovery for the world to her own country in the series “Great Weekends,” a show that is not only a guide but also an exploration of how uniquely wonderful the United States is. You can catch her shows on the Travel Channel.

Myung J. Chun
“Los Angeles Times Presents: Picture This — 10 Steps to Better Vacation Photos & Videos”
Saturday, Noon, Travel & Adventure Theater
Sunday, 12:30 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

Myung J. Chun’s photography career began at the Daily News in the San Fernando Valley in 1988. During his 11 years at the paper, he covered L.A.’s four seasons — fires, floods, riots and earthquakes. The Daily News was where he honed his skills as a photographer. Multiple daily assignments and constant deadlines forced him to think quickly, shoot quickly and push his creative limits. In 1999, Chun joined the Los Angeles Times as a staff photographer. His assignments took him up and down the state, around the country and even to the Arctic. In 2007, Chun accepted a position as a videographer responsible for producing video content for The Times’ website and welcomed the change and the creative challenge of working within a new medium.

Jay L. Clendenin
Child’s Play: Family Vacation Photos Made Easy
Saturday, 11:30 a.m., 1:30 & 3:30 p.m.,
Los Angeles Times Pavilion
Sunday, 11:30 a.m., 1:30 & 3:30 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion

Jay L. Clendenin has been a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times for three years. He has more than 12 years of experience navigating the star-studded world of Hollywood, the political intrigue of Washington, D.C., and all spectrums of society between the east and west coasts. In 2007, Clendenin traded the starched collars of Washington’s powerbrokers for the bright lights of movie industry elites when he came to the Los Angeles Times. Whether it’s an image of U2 frontman Bono, sensitive coverage of behind-the-scenes presidential wrangling or delicately composed images of volleyball at a nudist resort (yes, he went “native”), Clendenin moves through assignments with the perfect mixture of tenacity and ease, earning the trust of his subjects and the confidence of assignment editors. Clendenin ‘s signature documentary style has been widely recognized by Communication Arts, the National Press Photographers Assn., the White House News Photographers Assn. and Pictures of the Year International.

Richard Derk
When In Doubt, Throw It Out: Tips for Better Travel Photos
Saturday, noon, 2 & 4 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion
Stop, Look & Glisten: Making Your Photos Shine
Sunday, 11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion

A Chicago native, Richard Derk became an Illini, attending the University of Illinois majoring in finance. He worked as a photographer at the Office of Agricultural Communications and various newspapers including the Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun-Times before running a freelance business based in Chicago, working with New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, Fortune, Business Week, Sports Illustrated and various corporate clients. Derk came to the Los Angeles Times in 1990 as a photographer and has been picture editing for the last 10 years. He has been recognized with more than 100 awards for photography and editing.

Jane Engle
Cents & Sensibility — Practical Tips to Save Money with Online Travel
Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

Jane Engle is a consumer reporter and assistant travel editor at the Los Angeles Times. For more than a decade, she has dispensed tips, explored destinations and tracked deals, news and trends that affect travelers. Jane’s recent journeys have included South Africa and Europe. Closer to home, you’ll find her hiking, bicycling and boogie-boarding.

Arthur Frommer
Thinking Outside the Suitcase — Injecting New Life Into Your Vacation Plans
Saturday, 11 a.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage (Petree Hall C)

Arthur Frommer’s career in travel began when he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He wrote “The GI’s Guide to Traveling in Europe,” which was an instant success. Upon his release from the Army, he took a summer off from working as a lawyer to write a civilian version of his GI guide, titled “Europe on $5 a Day,” which was published in 1957. Today, Frommer’s travel guides consist of more than 340 titles reaching more than 6 million travelers each year, covering every major destination in the world. Frommer’s has also developed a major Web presence and more than a dozen types of guidebooks for every type of traveler, from budget to deluxe. Frommer’s twice-weekly column on travel is syndicated to newspapers nationwide. He also presents a weekly nationwide radio program that is syndicated to more than 100 stations. He has been a guest on national television shows such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Live! With Regis and Kelly” and NBC’s “Today.”

Mary Forgione
Los Angeles Times Presents: Cents & Sensibility — Practical Tips to Save Money with Online Travel
Saturday, 2 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

Los Angeles Times Daily Travel & Deal blogger Mary Forgione likes to hit the dirt when she’s on vacation. An avid hiker and runner, Forgione likes speed-touring cities on foot, sightseeing by running marathons and half-marathons in places she’s never been and leaving behind her car in favor of just about any other form of transit.

Catharine Hamm

Catharine Hamm has been part of the Los Angeles Times Travel section since 1999, serving as travel editor since 2003. She launched the “On the Spot” travel consumer column early in 2007, and it now appears in newspapers and on websites across the country. She was born in Syracuse, N.Y., but counts Virginia, Hawaii, the Philippines, Kansas and, of course, California as among the 34 places she has called home. Her work can be found online at latimes.com/Travel, facebook.com/LATimesTravel and @LATimesTravel.

George Hobica
Los Angeles Times Presents: Cents & Sensibility — Practical Tips to Save Money with Online Travel
Saturday, 2 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater
Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

New York City-based Hobica is a travel journalist and founder of Airfarewatchdog.com, a website that uses real-live human airfare experts to hunt down and list low airfares, including the increasingly large number of airline promo code fares. Hobica began his travel writing career in the late 1980s while still working full time and has followed travel and airline trends ever since. He has written for magazines as diverse as Real Simple, Details, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Glamour, Travel + Leisure and Good Housekeeping.

Calvin Hom
When In Doubt, Throw It Out: Tips for Better Travel Photos
Saturday, noon, 2 & 4 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion

Calvin Hom is the deputy director of photography at the Los Angeles Times in charge of the Metro, Sports and Features sections. He started at The Times in 1993. Before arriving, he was bureau photo chief of the Kansas City bureau for United Press International from 1983 to 1987 and then a contract photographer for Reuters based in Houston. His extensive travel as a photographer has included most of United States and foreign countries including Mexico, Brazil, Bahrain, Cairo and France. Bahrain was one of the most intriguing places he has ever visited. While there, he visited a karaoke bar where he was serenaded by three middle-aged Bahraini men in traditional Arab clothing belting out Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.” It was the perfect remedy for a homesick photographer.

Huell Howser
Host of “California’s Gold” on KCET
Sunday, 1:30 p.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage (Petree Hall C)

When Huell Howser moved in 1981 from Tennessee to Los Angeles, he had no idea he’d fall in love with California. His enthusiasm for his new home inspired the television series that started it all: “California’s Gold.” Howser had a simple idea: If he traveled the state with an open heart and an mind, a microphone and a camera, he would uncover a treasure of California stories. After more than 17 years in production, “California’s Gold” is one of the longest-running and most beloved series about California ever produced. The success and popularity of the show helped launch six additional series — “California,” “Visiting with Huell Howser,” “Road Trip with Huell Howser,” “California’s Golden Parks,” “California’s Green,” “California’s Water” and the newest series, “Downtown.”

Johnny Jet
Los Angeles Times Presents: Cents & Sensibility — Practical Tips to Save Money with Online Travel
Saturday, 2 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater
Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

John E. DiScala (a.k.a. Johnny Jet) travels about 150,000 miles and visits 20 countries each year. He and his website JohnnyJet.com have been featured in USA Today, Time, Fortune and the New York Times, and he has appeared on ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, FOX News Channel and PBS. JohnnyJet.com has been named “one of the top best money-saving websites for travel” by Budget Travel Magazine, while the L.A. Times called it “one of the top 10 essential travel resources on the Internet.” Outside Magazine wrote that Johnny Jet has one of the world’s best “dream jobs.” DiScala hosts a “travel website of the week” segment for several radio stations around the country, he writes weekly for Frommers.com and has written for USA Today, the Boston Herald and Coast Magazine.

Andrew McCarthy
Beyond the Camera: Andrew McCarthy in Conversation with Christopher Reynolds
Saturday, 1 p.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage (Petree Hall C)
Andrew McCarthy is a two-time Lowell Thomas Award winner, including being named the 2010 Travel Journalist of the Year. He has twice been cited for “notable” work in “The Best American Series” and is a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler magazine. His travel writing has also appeared in Travel + Leisure magazine, AFAR, Men’s Journal, Islands, National Geographic Adventure magazine and the Wall Street Journal. He’s written for The Atlantic, Bon Appétit and Slate and he contributed to the recently published Lonely Planet anthology, “A Moveable Feast.” He is also an actor and director. You can visit his website at www.andrewmccarthy.com.

Kelly Merritt
Los Angeles Times Presents: Cents & Sensibility — Practical Tips to Save Money with Online Travel
Saturday, 2 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater
Sunday, 2:30 p.m., Travel & Adventure Theater

Kelly Merritt is the author of “The Everything Family Guide to Budget Travel” and hundreds of articles on culinary travel, health and entertainment. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Sun Sentinel, Baltimore Sun, Gulfshore Life magazine, Florida Weekly, Naples Daily News, At Home magazine, AirTran’s in-flight magazine, the Fayetteville and Charlotte Observer, as well as numerous other publications. She previously served as the contributing travel editor for Uptown magazine and the lifestyle editor for Charlotte Health and Fitness magazine.

Christopher Reynolds
Beyond the Camera: Andrew McCarthy in Conversation with Christopher Reynolds
Saturday, 1 p.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage (Petree Hall C)

Born and raised in California, Christopher Reynolds has spent almost two decades writing about travel, the outdoors and arts and culture for the Los Angeles Times. Last year he cycled down a Hawaiian volcano, traced the path of the old Pony Express, skied the first big storm of the Utah ski season and jumped (with rope attached) from the tallest building in Soweto, South Africa. Besides his usual wanderings in 2011, he’s exploring our backyard for a project on great moments in Los Angeles. By year’s end, his monthly installments should yield a provocative resource for Southern California visitors and locals alike.

Rick Steves
Budget European Travel Skills
Saturday, 3 p.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage, (Petree Hall C)
Sunday, 11 a.m., Los Angeles Times Travel Stage, (Petree Hall C)

As host, writer and producer of the popular public television series “Rick Steves’ Europe” and best-selling author of more than 30 European travel books, Rick Steves encourages Americans to delve deep into Europe and become “temporary locals.” Steves has hosted over 100 travel shows for public television and numerous pledge specials. His “Rick Steves’ Europe” TV series has grown to 70 half-hour shows carried by over 300 public television stations annually. The weekly public radio program “Travel with Rick Steves” airs across the country and has spawned a popular podcast. Steves’ Italy guidebook is the best-selling international guidebook in the United States. He is a syndicated columnist with Tribune Media Services and is a regular on the Op-Ed page in USA Today.

Brian van der Brug
Giving It Your Best Shot: Making & Taking Pictures Like a Pro
Saturday, 12:30 p.m., 2:30 & 4:30 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion
Sunday, 12:30 p.m., 2:30 & 4:30 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion

Van der Brug was born in downtown Los Angeles and raised in the city’s suburbs. In his early 20s he discovered photojournalism and was hooked. He studied journalism and history at Cal State Long Beach, graduating in 1989, and has been a staff photographer at the Los Angeles Times since 1997. Van der Brug’s photographic reportage has taken him to dozens of states and countries on five continents. He enjoys any assignment that takes him somewhere he has not been or allows him to meet people he never would have met. His work has been honored by the National Press Photographers Assn., Pictures of the Year International, the Scripps Howard Foundation and the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Van der Brug lives in West Hills with his wife, Jill Connelly, and their two children. When working or not working, he enjoys anything in the outdoors, with backpacking and skiing in the Sierra Nevada at the top of the list.

Hal Wells
Stop, Look & Glisten: Making Your Photos Shine
Saturday, 11 a.m., 1 & 3 p.m., Los Angeles Times Pavilion

Hal Wells is the daily Calendar photo editor at the Los Angeles Times. He has worked as both staff photographer and photo editor at numerous newspapers, including the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, the Orange County Register zoned editions and the San Antonio Express-News. Wells graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism in 1986 and has classroom teaching experiences there, at Cal State Long Beach, with UCLA’s Daily Bruin, Student Media program and at Chapman University.