New postage has local stamp of approval

WASILLA — Having your work chosen as a postage stamp is an accomplishment any photographer would write home about.

A stunning landscape illuminated by the Aurora Borealis is one of many spectacular scenes Wasilla resident Fred Hirschmann has captured on film. Come Monday, it’ll also be the latest image on a 41-cent stamp released by the U.S. Postal Service as part of its two-stamp Polar Lights set.

“I’m kind-of humble about it,” Hirshmann said about having his work on a first-class postage stamp. “It’s fun and we enjoy sharing the beauty of nature.”

Hirshmann remembers the night he captured the postage stamp image. It was Jan. 17, 2005, at about 2 a.m. at Broad Pass south of Cantwell. It was –34 degrees outside and he was pulling an all-nighter photographing the heavenly illuminations.

“The winds were blowing out of the north at about 20 knots. It was miserable,” he said.

To prevent the frigid air from freezing his equipment, Hirshmann said he worked with two cameras. One was on his tripod working while the other was kept warm inside the heated cab of his truck. He could usually get through a roll of film before having to swap out cameras.

Hirshmann’s stamp and another featuring the aurora found near the south magnetic pole were also part of an earlier release in February. Then, it was one of many scenes from different countries included in an 84-cent international-rate postage.

Having his image chosen to be broken out as a 41-cent stamp is a honor, Hirshmann said.

It is unusual for the U.S. Postal

Service to break individual stamps out of another set, the agency says in a prepared statement. “The Postal Service has taken the unusual step of issuing the same stamps at a different denomination.”

“I don’t know how to respond,” Hirshmann said considering the first time he’ll open his mailbox to find one of his stamps affixed to it. “It’ll be fun to see [the stamp] on a lot of Christmas cards and stuff.”

Hirshmann first came to Alaska in 1978 and moved here permanently in 1983. He’s lived in the Mat-Su Valley since 1991 and owns Fred Hirshmann Photography in Wasilla.

Monday’s release is exciting, but it isn’t the first time Hirshmann has had one of his photographs chosen for a stamp. He had an image of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge appear on a stamp in a 2001 collection.

As the most famous of the auroras, the Aurora Borealis is hard to describe to someone who hasn’t seen it, Hirshmann said. With the stamp, he can share that with others around the United States and the world.

“I think for Alaskans, we’re all familiar with the Northern Lights,” he said. “But for people in the states, it’s going to let the rest of the country share what beauty we here in Alaska see on a regular basis. We get share that with the rest of the country.”

The release of the Polar Lights series stamps will be heralded with a dedication ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday at the Public Safety Building in Wasilla. Hirshmann will sign sheets of the stamps and a special postmark will also be available at the dedication ceremony.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2268 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.