Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Kreider.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
NestVisions grew out of a long career in real estate marketing and a dream that took several years to fully realize.
I’m originally from Boston, where I worked for a number of boutique real estate brokerages. Like many people at smaller companies, I wore a lot of different hats and often took on odd jobs for the agents. One of those jobs was photography.
At the time, much of my work involved photographing Boston rental units, which could be challenging, to say the least. I would walk into apartments with laundry everywhere, trash on the floor and roommates who clearly had no interest in being part of a photo shoot. They were not exactly glamorous listings, but they taught me how to make the most of difficult spaces.
Over time, my photography skills began to improve. I was completely self-taught. There were not nearly as many tutorials, online courses or real estate photography communities available then, so I relied heavily on my experience in marketing. I studied which angles made a room feel more inviting, how lighting affected the mood of a photograph and which images were most likely to capture a potential buyer’s attention.
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived, like many people, I began thinking more seriously about what I wanted my work and my life to look like. My girlfriend and I decided to move south to Raleigh to be closer to family. My plan was to use the move as an opportunity to begin a new career as a full-time real estate photographer.
I immediately started dreaming up NestVisions. I still remember sitting in a coffee shop in downtown Boston, across the street from my apartment, sketching an early version of my logo on a napkin. I began building the website, developing the brand and researching everything I would need to officially launch the company.
There was only one problem: I had dramatically underestimated how expensive it would be.
To provide professional photography, video, drone services and 3D tours at the level I envisioned, I would need to invest close to $20,000 in equipment. I was not in a financial position to do that yet, so I decided to continue working in real estate marketing while slowly building NestVisions on the side.
After moving to Raleigh, I joined Marti Hampton Real Estate. The team was incredibly welcoming to me as a newcomer—and a Yankee—and I grew close to many of the agents I worked with. Initially, I assumed I would only be there for a short time while I prepared to launch my photography career. But as often happens, the days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into years and, before I knew it, I had been in Raleigh for nearly five years.
A lot of life happened during that time. I got married, bought a home and became a father. I also continued photographing listings whenever I could. Because I was still working full time, agents trying to book me would often find that my only available appointments were at 7 a.m., 7 p.m. or on the occasional weekend. It was not the easiest way to build a business, but I was fortunate to develop a small and loyal group of clients who believed in my work.
As my portfolio grew and more agents began reaching out, it became clear that NestVisions was ready to become more than a side business. I eventually left Marti Hampton Real Estate on great terms, and I’m grateful that I have continued working with the team, along with other fantastic agents in the same office, including Darrena Yehia, Renee Hillman and Thomas Wohl.
By the end of 2025, I finally felt that I had reached the place I had imagined years earlier in that Boston coffee shop. Today, I have photographed well over 2,000 homes and work with both longtime clients and new agents and teams throughout the Triangle.
What began with difficult Boston rental apartments, a self-taught photographer and a logo sketched on a napkin has grown into the career and business I always hoped it could become. Building NestVisions has truly been a dream come true.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road. One of the earliest challenges was simply the cost of getting started. When I first imagined launching NestVisions, I quickly realized that the business I wanted to build would require an investment of nearly $20,000, which I simply did not have at the time. That included things like cameras, lenses, lighting, drones, computers, and software.
That meant putting the dream on hold while I continued working full time in real estate marketing. For several years, I built NestVisions during the hours that were left over. I would photograph homes early in the morning, after work or on weekends, then spend my evenings editing. It was difficult to grow because my availability did not always align with the schedules of busy real estate agents. It is hard to build a photography business when your calendar only offers appointments at 7 a.m. or 7 p.m, and your wife is 8 months pregnant.
Another challenge was learning almost everything on my own. When I first started, there were far fewer resources available for real estate photographers than there are today. I learned through trial and error, studying lighting, composition, editing and marketing while constantly evaluating what worked and what did not. Every difficult property became an opportunity to improve.
The biggest struggle, however, was deciding when to finally take the leap. Leaving the security of a full-time job is intimidating under any circumstances, but by that point I was married, owned a home and had a new baby. There was never going to be a moment when starting a business felt completely risk-free. Eventually, I had to trust the work I had put in, the relationships I had built and the clients who continued to support me.
There have also been the everyday challenges that come with owning a small business: managing inconsistent schedules, investing in new equipment, keeping up with changing technology and balancing the creative side of the work with sales, customer service, bookkeeping and administration. When you own the company, you quickly learn that taking photographs is only one small part of the job.
Although the road has not always been easy, the slower journey ultimately helped me build a stronger foundation. I entered the business with years of real estate marketing experience, an established portfolio and relationships with agents who already trusted my work. The challenges made reaching this point even more meaningful.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
NestVisions is a full-service real estate photography and media company serving agents, teams, builders and designers throughout the Triangle. We provide professional listing photography, video, drone imagery, floor plans, 3D tours, virtual staging and branded social media content.
At its core, though, NestVisions is not simply about taking attractive pictures of homes. My background is in real estate marketing, so I approach every project by thinking about how the content will actually be used.
What will make someone stop scrolling?
Which features of the home will matter most to a potential buyer?
How can we help the agent market not only this property, but also themselves and their business?
I want every photo and video to have a purpose.
I believe that this perspective is one of the things that sets NestVisions apart. I understand the pressures agents face because I spent many years working alongside them before becoming a full-time photographer. Listings move quickly, schedules change constantly and agents need a media partner who is responsive, dependable and easy to work with. Beautiful work is important, but so are consistent quality, fast delivery and knowing that the person you hired will take care of both you and your client.
We are especially known for clean, natural-looking imagery that presents a home at its absolute best without making it feel artificial. I never want a property to look so heavily edited that a buyer arrives and feels as though they were shown a different home. The goal is to create images that are polished, bright and inviting while still being honest to the space.
Video has also become a major part of what we do. In addition to cinematic property tours, I work closely with agents to create on-camera content that allows their personality and expertise to come through. A great real estate video should do more than showcase a kitchen or living room. It should give viewers a reason to remember the agent presenting it.
What I am most proud of is the trust I have built with my clients. Many of the agents who supported me while NestVisions was still a side business continue to work with me today. They trusted me with their listings before I had a large portfolio or an established company, and being able to grow alongside them has been incredibly rewarding.
I am also very proud that NestVisions has grown primarily through relationships and referrals. There are a lot of real estate media companies in our area that I consider the “Walmart” of photographers. They are in multiple states, they perform mediocre work, and they churn out results just to be able to get the jobs. That is not how I run things.
I still treat each shoot as an opportunity to earn the next one. It doesn’t matter if it’s a modest rental, a new construction home or a luxury property, I want the agent and homeowner to feel that their listing received my full attention.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
The relationships that have helped me most were built by being genuinely interested in other people’s work, showing up consistently and finding ways to be useful.
I have never really had one formal mentor who guided every part of my career. Instead, I have learned from many different people along the way—marketing professionals, photographers, business owners and especially the real estate agents I have worked beside. Sometimes mentorship is less about finding one person who has all the answers and more about paying attention to the people around you who do certain things exceptionally well.
What has worked best for me is doing good work and being reliable. Real estate is a very relationship-driven industry, and agents talk to one another. When you communicate clearly, arrive prepared, treat their clients and homeowners respectfully and consistently deliver what you promised, people remember that. A large portion of my business has grown through repeat clients, introductions and word of mouth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nestvisions.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nestvisions
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nestvisions/
