Free template · for photographers & videographers
Free Model Release + Session Prep Starter
A brand shoot with no model release for the person in frame, and a client who arrives late, in a busy logo shirt, with no idea where to park: two small gaps that cost a session. This starter closes both. It is the adult model release from the Photography Client & Contract Kit, as a fillable PDF and a print PDF, and a one-page How to Prepare guide you send before the session. Both are white-label, and a companion PDF shows each one filled in for invented sessions.
Take it with you — free, no signup
Direct download. No email, no account — just the files.
What it does
- A single-subject adult model release: the uses the model allows, row by row, how long the permission lasts, what the model receives, and how the model can stop future use.
- Ships twice: a fillable PDF you click and type into, and a print PDF with ruled blanks for pen and paper at the shoot.
- A one-page How to Prepare guide for your client: arrival and parking, what to wear, what to bring and do before the session, and answers to three common questions: guests, pets and children, and phones.
- A companion PDF shows the release and the prep guide filled in for an invented studio and two invented sessions, so you can see how much detail is enough before you write your own.
- White-label: neither document carries any branding, so they go out under your studio's name.
Related reading
- Session & Package Pricing Calculator Price a package from your real cost per hour — the free tool for the money side.
- What is a model release?
- What to send a client before a photo session
- Templates for Photographers & Videographers
Own it, don't rent it
Want every booking's paperwork, not just one release?
This free starter is one release and one client page. The full kit is 20 documents in fillable PDF, print and Word: a session agreement with wedding, family portrait, real estate and commercial video clause sets, model releases for adults and minors, a property release, a print release, a usage license with a fee schedule, a pricing guide template, timeline and shot-list worksheets, weather and gallery-delivery policies and a client message bank. A Session Paperwork & Release Log workbook (Excel and Google Sheets) works out which documents each booking needs and flags what is still unsigned and when each gallery is due.
A one-time purchase you keep and reuse on every booking — the paperwork shelf between a free single form and a rented monthly studio app.
A general template, not legal advice, and downloading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Right-of-publicity and release rules differ by state and change over time, and some uses, such as advertising and stock, can need more than a general release. Have an attorney in your state read your model release once before you rely on it. Free to use; please don't resell or redistribute.