First-time mother Sarah Simpson said her daughter, Juniper, was born with a pale red birthmark blossoming on her forehead.

Ms Simpson's mother had recently taken her daughter for a photo shoot by Expression Sessions in a Tamworth supermarket.

But when Ms Simpson went to pick up the photographs, she was hurt to find the birthmark a subtle but an integral part of Juniper had disappeared.

"I was shocked," Ms Simpson said.

"The photographs looked like Juniper had been purchased from a baby catalogue. She looked generic like she ticked all the boxes for the way a baby 'should' look.

"How do I explain this to her when she's old enough to understand?

"How can she be herself, when from birth, she hasn't complied with these ideals of visual perfection?"

A former graphic designer, Ms Simpson recognised Photoshop's "clone tool" had been used after she noticed a small spot had been repeated on Juniper's head.

Frustrated by the daily bombardment of images constructed through "lies and fabrication", Ms Simpson recently left the graphic design industry.

She was angered the company had taken it upon themselves to decide to remove the mark without asking.

"They most certainly should have asked if we were okay with them touching up the images," she said.

Expression Sessions director Jesse Baravykas said birthmarks were tricky because some parents wanted them kept and others wished for them to be removed.

He said the company strove to remove or "soften" blemishes on newborn skin, because it was just "more appealing".

In the case of Juniper's photos, Mr Baravykas said it was tough to determine if the mark was in fact a birthmark, and he probably would have edited it out himself.

"Would you want a picture of your child with that sort of mark, even if it doesn't even look like a birthmark?" Mr Baravykas said.

He said the company strove to do what their clients wanted and did their "best to make the images look great", but it was ultimately up to the customer if they wanted to pay for the photos.

He said when a past customer had complained about the removal of a mark, they offered to reprint the photographs free of charge.