I know we all use UPS and Fed-Ex a lot and wanted to pass on my experience

I had a package coming from Nikon USA via UPS. It was not marked signature required. I have "My Choice" so I tracked the truck all day as it drove past the entrance to my community at least 8 times. About 3:30 I got the "Getting Close" notification, so I went to the living room next to the front door. At 4:00 pm, I got pinged that the package had been delivered, but no picture attached. A moment later I heard the truck drive by without slowing down. I opened the door and there was nothing. Luckily I live in a townhome community with one way in and one way out. I walked to the outbound side and waited. I heard the truck stop and start a few times and stood in the road so he would have to stop when he got to me. I asked him about the package for my address. He just looked at me and reached across to the passenger side under the dashboard and pulled out my box. I asked him why he tagged it delivered when it wasn't. He said he could not find my unit number (all the houses have numbers prominently above the front doors). I asked him why he couldn't find mine when I heard at least 4 stops that he seemed to have found. He just hit the gas and left. My thought is he saw Nikon and figured he could get some free stuff, not knowing I was the rare person that was home and waiting.

Maybe not all porch thieves are out looking for opportunity, sometimes they might drive the truck.

Gilbert

...I shoot marching bands and if I needed a release from each student I wouldn't have time to shoot (I might shoot 32 groups in a day, 8-10k shots). My activity is peppered with many who do this similarly, and a couple of companies that contract photographers to do shows and then sell online. I've also shot individual groups and the students formally and sold online. Actually, I've had a couple of my shots make the cover of a niche national publication; they contacted me after finding one they liked in my online photos and I gave them the pic to use (so, I'm assuming here that the publication is aware of the legalities...I HOPE SO, lol). When the featured students, through their director, were informed, they were nothing but astonished and delighted, but never in all this process was a release mentioned. Shrug. So, I suppose providing a *service* means something here, the venue is also an important factor. Quite honestly, I've been doing this so long that I'm just gonna continue the flow...

I have been doing portraits for high school extra curricular activity groups for about 8 years. It has suddenly occurred to me that I might need a release from the student's parents to do this. Does the mere fact that the parents fill out an order form with the students name and subsequently pay for the photos eliminate the need for a separate release? These photos are NOT published anywhere. Only purchased prints and print packages are ever released.

If I do need a release, are there any suggestions where I can get a simple template that I can customize for my work. Everything I've found online is so full of legal jargon that I barely understand it myself. Thanks in advance for your help. As always, it is appreciated.