507 free photography templates

Free Photography Mood Board Templates

Photography mood board templates for planning shoots: portraits, product and food photography, editorial and commercial work, film and cinematic stills, travel and street photography. Each board collects light references, colour grade, composition and styling notes for the whole team.

Share a board with models, clients, stylists and assistants before shoot day. Templates are free to edit and download, and you can replace every picture with your own references or test shots.

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Road-trip photography — Clay quilt · Earthy

Hand-picked photography mood boards

Photography mood board guide

What to include on a shoot mood board

Lighting references: hard or soft, direction, time of day and whether it is natural or flash.
The colour grade — warm, cool, muted, high-contrast or film-like — shown with a palette strip.
Composition and framing ideas: close-ups, wide shots, negative space, angles.
Styling: wardrobe, props, hair and make-up, set or location.
A short shot list or the number of final images the client expects.

Plan the light first

Light shapes the mood more than any prop. Decide whether the shoot is bright and airy, moody and low-key, or golden-hour warm, and pick references that agree with each other. Mixing a hard-flash editorial picture with a soft window-light portrait on one board sends mixed messages.

Make it useful on the day

A portrait board (4:5 or 2:3) is easy to keep open on a phone during the shoot. Number the shots or group references by set-up so the team can tick them off as you go.

Use your own test shots

After a test shoot, replace references with your own frames. A board built from your own pictures is the clearest brief you can give a retoucher or a client.

Plan for the edit too

Add one or two references for the final grade and crop, and note the delivery formats — square for social, 4:5 for Instagram, landscape for web banners. Knowing the crops in advance means you leave enough space around the subject when you shoot.

All 507 photography mood board templates

Search, filter by style, colour and orientation, and preview any board in detail. Opening a template in the editor is free and needs no account.

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Frequently Asked Questions

More answers on the Mood Board Maker page.

Can I use a mood board as a shot list?

Yes. Add numbered notes beside each reference or group pictures by set-up, then download a portrait board you can keep on your phone.

Can I extract a colour palette from my photos?

Yes. The editor can read the main colours from a picture and add them to the board as swatches with hex codes.

Is the download high resolution?

Yes. PNG and JPG downloads can be made at 2× or 3× the board size for print, and PDF keeps the board's shape.