Tag Archive for Piestewa Peak

Phoenix Student Creates Stunning Video

Recognize some of the landscape? It looks like a majority of it was shot from Piestewa Peak in the Phoenix 32nd St corridor.

Love the video? You might be surprised by who made it.  A local Phoenix high school student.  Brophy College Preparatory senior Michael Heiland captured this timelapse video called the “The Valley” to test out his timelapse skills.

“You’ll see a sunrise at about 4 in the morning from the top of Squaw Peak. You’ll see sunsets from Camelback and the other views downtown here. I went to about 30 locations,” the 17-year-old said.

“A lot of people think it was for fun, some people think that it was for a school project, but I just did it because I’m passionate about time-lapse photography and I wanted to make a video about Arizona because I hadn’t seen one before,” Heiland said.

The video has gone viral and has been viewed several thousands of times across the world.

Hieland took six months to complete the project.  He did some research and taught himself how to do time lapse photography.  He also did the legwork to get the fancy equipment and then hauled it up to Camelback Mountain and other places.

The finished product has been shared by Phoenix lovers and other alike.  Michael was able to capture the feeling of Phoenix as a thriving, busy city.

The beauty of the desert mixed with the vibrant city light sparkles throughout the video.  From the light rail, to the us airways center, Chase field, and downtown Michael’s video helps capture the essence of Phoenix.  A great city in the desert that we call home.

Michael graduated this May and is looking forward to film school at University of Arizona.  Maybe Michael will delight us once again with a timelapse of Tucson.  Only time will tell.

Tell us, what is your favorite part of the video?