How do I set a default value for a ModelForm field in Django?

I'm trying to set the default, initial value for the starting_label field in my Django ModelForm, but the field always appears blank even though it's required. I've experimented with various solutions but nothing seems to work. Here is my current form code:

PYTHONCopied
class ImageUploadForm(forms.ModelForm):
    class Meta:
        model = Image
        fields = ['pic', 'starting_label']

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super(ImageUploadForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.fields['starting_label'].value = 1000
        self.fields['pic'] = forms.FileField(widget=forms.TextInput(attrs={
            'name': 'images',
            'type': 'File',
            'class': 'form-control',
            'multiple': True,
        }), label='Upload Image(s)')
        self.fields['starting_label'] = forms.IntegerField(label='Starting Label No',
                                                           initial=1000,
                                                           min_value=1,
                                                           max_value=10000)

This is the HTML from the template where the form is rendered:

HTMLCopied
            <div class="mb-3">
                <label for="{{ form.form_Name.id_for_label }}" class="form-label">Starting Label No.</label>
                {{ form.starting_label }}
            </div>

My goal is to have the starting_label field display 1000 as its initial value. Any ideas on what might be going wrong?