How Sean Audette turned his photography career into a six-figure career

From a broad perspective, Sean Audette’s career seems haphazard: he was a biochemistry student, a trainee chef at fine dining restaurants, and a lecturer at a local college before he took up photography.

Audette’s background as a chef landed him a recipe research and development job at Red River College in Winnipeg, Canada, in 2016. He also taught a Pastry Arts class there, and learned to prepare meals in front of the cameras when the school began helping local restaurants. Billboard, photograph, and advertise their food.

Then he tried taking pictures himself, and realized he had a talent for it. He borrowed a camera from a friend and shot some clients of his own. By 2020, he had enough momentum to leave his other jobs—in college, and as a chef at a temporary restaurant—to pursue photography full-time.

Audette says his freelance work is now the most lucrative job of his life. Last year, his business generated nearly $133,900, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It. He adds that most of his work comes from Fiverr, a freelance platform where he finds most of his clients.

He works up to 60 hours a week, but the ability to control his schedule while being creative every day is invaluable, he says.

Here’s how Odette started his photography business, how he manages his freelance budget and what he plans to do next.

There was no way Audet could jump straight into photography full-time: he needed to live on the paychecks from his other jobs while learning the ropes of his side business.

When Audet started taking photos in 2018, he was earning about $56,500 a year from the pop-up restaurant he started with a friend — complete with a seven-course tasting menu — and his college job.

Adding photography to the mix came at a cost: he regularly worked 12-hour days, seven days a week, and spent any free time watching YouTube videos to gain more camera skills.

“Juggling two or three jobs will take a long time,” Audet says. “You’re going to have to make sacrifices. But oftentimes, that’s just a necessary part of building something.”

In 2018, Audette’s side gig brought in $8,403, not enough to leave his other jobs. He didn’t earn enough in 2019 either.

The tide turned in 2020, when the coronavirus shut down restaurants around the world. Odette spent more time on photography, finding clients and working with them from the comfort of his home. He says he invested about $15,000 of his own money in buying new equipment such as lenses, lights and backdrops.

He closed his pop-up restaurant and brought in $53,276 that year. Focusing all his attention on photography and high-quality equipment, Odette nearly tripled his revenue over the next two years, booking major clients like McDonald’s and Campbell’s.

Today, he charges between $1,000 and $17,500 per shoot, he says, noting that each shoot has “wildly” different needs. Sometimes, those needs are expensive: Audet spent $19,000 last year on production factors like location rentals, models, designers, and extra help on set.

He says Audette has no plans to switch career paths again. That doesn’t mean he’s done expanding: In addition to food-based shoots, he now takes on beverage and cosmetics projects as well.

He wants to expand his footprint beyond Winnipeg, while at the same time turning his city into a production hotspot — connecting with other photographers in the region in hopes of working together and growing Winnipeg’s artistic reputation, he says.

He keeps an eye on generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney, which he says have helped him fix small flaws in his images and reduce the time he spends communicating with clients.

“Working as a freelancer comes with its challenges, but for me, I feel like it’s mostly benefits,” Audet says, adding: “The agency it gives me over my time. [and] The lifestyle…in my opinion is priceless.”

Conversions from CAD to USD were made using the OANDA conversion rate of 1 CAD to 0.75422 USD on July 14, 2023. All amounts are rounded to the nearest dollar.

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