Let’s Talk About Licensing
If you’ve ever hired a photographer—whether for a personal project, your brand, or your design work—you’ve probably heard the term “licensing.” But even for seasoned pros, it can be murky. What is a license, exactly? What does it cover? And why can’t you just send the images to whoever you want?
Let’s clear that up.
When You Hire a Photographer, You’re Paying for Two Things:
1. The shoot itself
That includes scouting, lighting, styling, directing, editing—all the creative problem-solving that goes into making strong, usable images.
2. A license to use the images
This covers how and where you’re allowed to use them: your website, social media, press features, award submissions, and other self-promotion.
What you don’t get is full ownership. The photographer retains the copyright—just like an architect owns their plans, or a designer owns their design concepts.
Why That Should Sound Familiar
If you’re an interior designer, you probably make money from:
- Your design fee
- Markup on furnishings and materials
If you’re an architect, your client pays for your time—but you still own the drawings. They can’t just pass them off to someone else or use them again without paying you.
It’s the same principle. Photographers protect their work through licensing—because that’s what allows our work to keep generating value after the shoot is done.
So What’s the Problem?
Here’s where things go sideways:
Someone on the project—a vendor, builder, brand partner—wants to use the images. And someone forwards them the high-res files without checking the license.
It feels harmless. But legally, it’s not.
If they weren’t included in the original license, they don’t have usage rights. That’s like handing off architectural drawings to a new builder without permission, or letting someone reuse your custom design plan.
It cuts into the photographer’s ability to earn a living from their work. And it adds risk for everyone involved.
What You Can Do With Licensed Images
✔ Use the images as outlined in your license
That usually includes your website, portfolio, social media, award entries, and press submissions.
✔ Tag and credit your collaborators
It’s good etiquette and good for performance—Instagram prioritizes posts with proper mentions and tags.
✘ Don’t forward high-res images to other collaborators
Unless they’re specifically licensed, they’re not cleared to use them. Period.
Photographers usually handle image delivery to third parties directly. That ensures usage is tracked, credited, and above-board.
Not Sure What’s Covered? Just Ask.
If a brand, vendor, or publication wants access to the images, loop your photographer in. We’ll make sure the usage gets handled properly—so the work is seen, credited, and protected.
Why It Matters
This isn’t about being precious. It’s about keeping creative work sustainable—for photographers, designers, and architects alike.
We all rely on systems that protect the value of our time, ideas, and output. Licensing is one of those systems. It helps ensure the work you put into your project—and the people you trusted to help tell its story—get credited and compensated fairly.
So the next time someone says, “Can you just send me the images?”
The answer might be yes—but only after checking what’s allowed.
