Personal Use License

What Is a Personal Use License?

Why It Matters for Your Photos with Bethany Pendleton Photography

When you invest in a session with me—whether it’s a military homecoming, a wedding day, or a quiet moment with your family—you're not just receiving beautiful images. You’re receiving a Personal Use License that gives you the ability to enjoy your photos fully and confidently.

But what exactly does that mean?


A Personal Use License, Simply Explained:

This license allows you to use your images in a way that celebrates your life, your people, and your story. With a Personal Use License, you are free to:

  • Download and keep your high-resolution images.
  • Print them for your walls, albums, gifts, or keepsakes.
  • Share on social media with your family and friends (credit is always appreciated!).
  • Use as profile pictures, screensavers, or holiday cards.

Whether you're preserving the emotion of a military reunion or the joy of your wedding vows, your photos are yours to enjoy personally, however you'd like.


What a Personal Use License Does Not Include:

To protect both your investment and my work as an artist, there are a few things that this license doesn’t allow:

  • Using your images for business purposes (like marketing or promoting a brand).
  • Selling the images or submitting them to publications without permission.
  • Editing the images with heavy filters or altering them beyond simple cropping.
  • Claiming the images as your own work or removing watermarks if present.

If you need photos for commercial use—say, for a business, brand, or publication—I offer Commercial Licensing separately, and I’d be happy to walk you through that process.


Why This Matters:

Your images are created with care and intention. Licensing ensures that you’re able to share them in meaningful, personal ways—while also respecting the time, creativity, and storytelling that went into making them.


If you ever have questions about how you can use your gallery, I’m just a message away. I'm here to make sure your memories are not only preserved, but protected.

Commercial Use license

What Is a Commercial Use License?

And Do You Need One for Your Photos?

At Bethany Pendleton Photography, most sessions come with a Personal Use License—perfect for printing, sharing with family, or posting on social media. But sometimes, clients want to use their images for business or promotional purposes. That’s where a Commercial Use License comes in.

If you're a business owner, a content creator, or someone planning to use images for marketing, let’s walk through what this means for you.


What Is a Commercial Use License?

A Commercial Use License allows you to use your images in a way that promotes or generates income for a business, brand, or product.

With this license, you're permitted to:

  • Use the images on your website or business social media.

A business page is used for commercial use despite feeling like a personal page. Some business owners try to keep their pages tailored to be more personal. Even with this commercial use still occurs. While it can show who you are, it can also promote you in a way that leads to unfair compensation to the photographer that should be credited for images but is not and it's a violation of the personal use contract if not discussed prior. If clients are stemming from photos taken by me and I have not been compensated for commercial use, there is a problem. The photographer should not have to report a copyright infringement to be properly compensated.

  • Feature them in ads, flyers, or brochures.
  • Include them in email newsletters or blog posts for your brand.
  • Use them for publication or press if approved.

This type of license is commonly used by:

  • Entrepreneurs needing updated branding or headshots.
  • Service-based businesses (salons, realtors, fitness coaches, etc.).
  • Creatives and influencers who monetize their platforms.
  • Vendors from weddings or styled shoots who want to use images for their own promotions.


What’s Not Included Without It

If you’ve booked a session that wasn't intended for commercial use—like a family session, wedding, or military homecoming—you don’t have permission to use those images for anything that makes money or promotes a business.


Using images without the proper license can:

Violate copyright laws.

Damage the relationship between you and your photographer.

Lead to fees or takedown requests.

That’s never fun—and totally avoidable by having the right license from the start.


Why Is There an Extra Fee?

Commercial use licenses include additional rights and flexibility that personal use doesn’t cover. They’re priced to reflect:

The increased visibility and reach of the images.

The potential revenue generated from images taken by photographer.

The value of my work being associated with your brand or business.

It’s a win-win: you get professional images that elevate your brand, and I’m compensated fairly for the work and rights extended.


How to Get a Commercial License

If you’re booking a branding session or styled shoot with business goals in mind, just let me know upfront and I’ll build the commercial use license into your package. And if you're a wedding vendor or featured in a session and want to use select images to promote your work, I offer licensing options that are simple. Licensing has a flat fee depending on the usage.