Welcome to the FAA. You are correct that "commercial" is not pertinent. You are correct that "intent" is pertinent. But, the FAA will determine what your "intent" was and it will be taken in the worst possible light. It is VERY easy to enter upon dangerous ground with the FAA and the maximum penalty is $250,000 and/or 8 years in Federal Prison. Very unlikely to get remotely close to anything like that but the FAA is notorious for taking a VERY harsh interpretation for a seemingly innocent act. And the appeal is to the NTSB, which almost always supports the FAA's decision. There is legislation pending to soften that approach and it may already be passed by now, but although you may state your "intent", it will be the FAA's interpretation of your intent that will rule. And for those who think that the chance of getting tagged is very low; I would not bet the family farm on that. Congress put a lot of pressure on the FAA to enforce these laws and the FAA really, really likes to get rid of that pressure by enforcement action. Don't make the mistake of thinking that you get to go to court. If you appeal, you get to go to an "administrative law judge" who works for, you guessed it, the FAA.
Interestingly; you can, with a private license, take photos incidental to your job from a plane, but you cannot do that with a drone. It's all in the paperwork that gets passed.