Photography · Retouching · Australia
Retouching and re-editing, on demand
Every shoot we deliver is already retouched. What this page is really about is what happens afterwards, when the brand shifts, a placement changes shape or someone leaves. We re-edit on demand, and because retouching needs no travel we do it for businesses anywhere in Australia, including on images we did not shoot.
Grab the snowball. Give it a spin, and watch it grow as you scroll. Just like your image library.
The short answer
Is retouching included, or extra?
Included. Every image we hand over has already been cleaned up and colour corrected, because an unretouched file is not a finished photograph. What we also do, and what most studios treat as an exception, is re-edit on demand when your needs change later.
We keep the raw files and the edit settings behind every shoot. So a re-edit a year later starts from the original capture rather than from a compressed export, and you get a fresh edit instead of a degraded copy.
We shoot in Sydney. We retouch anywhere. Retouching is the one part of photography that needs no travel, so we take this work from businesses across Australia, including on images we did not shoot. Property and listing images, product sets and team photos are the three we are asked for most.
Because our Snowball SEO platform automates the search heavy lifting other agencies bill by the hour, that ongoing work does not need its own line item. Retouching sits alongside our Sydney photography service, and is available on its own.
The craft
Three levels, and knowing which one a frame needs
Retouching is usually discussed as one thing, and it is really three, separated by how much they change the frame. Most of the skill is deciding how far to go, not how far you can.
Where the line sits
Clean-up and correction are finishing. They remove what the camera caught but the eye would never have noticed, and they get colour and exposure to where the scene actually looked. Every image gets this.
Composite work is a different activity. Removing a parked car, replacing a grey sky or merging two frames is image building, and it is worth naming as such so everyone knows what they are approving.
- We keep raw files, so nothing is a one-way decision
- Edit settings are saved, so a re-edit is fast
- Composite work is flagged and scoped, never assumed
- People are retouched conservatively unless you ask otherwise
On demand
When you would ask for a re-edit
None of these are the shoot going wrong. They are all normal business, and they are the reason a library either keeps earning or quietly stops being used.
The brand moved
New palette, new tone, a refreshed look. The captures are still good, the grade is what needs to change, and that is a re-edit rather than a reshoot.
A new placement, a new shape
An image shot for a landing page will not sit in a vertical story or a wide banner. We recrop from the original frame, which keeps resolution the export would have lost.
Someone left
Team images date the moment the team changes. Usually the fix is a recrop or swapping one frame, not booking the whole group again.
The product changed
New packaging, a new colourway, a label update. Often the existing set can be reworked so the range still looks like one family.
Send us the images and what they now need to do. If a re-edit will not honestly get you there we will say so and tell you what would, which sometimes means a short top-up shoot rather than a full one. For the wider picture see our commercial photography in Sydney guide.
Start here
Need images reworked?
Send us the images and what they need to do now. We will tell you what a re-edit can achieve, how long it takes and whether it is the right answer.
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Retouching FAQs
Is retouching included, or charged separately?
It is included. Every image we deliver has been cleaned up and colour corrected as part of the shoot, because an unretouched file is not a finished photograph. Composite work, where we remove or replace something in the frame, is the one level we scope separately, since it is closer to building an image than finishing one.
Can you re-edit images later, after the shoot is signed off?
Yes, and it is worth planning for rather than treating as an exception. Brands shift, placements change shape and people move on. We keep the raw files and the edit settings, so a re-edit starts from the original capture rather than from a compressed export, which is the difference between a fresh edit and a degraded copy.
How long does a re-edit take?
Usually about two business days for a set of images, and faster for a single frame. Because the raw files and our edit settings are already there, most re-edits are a matter of changing decisions rather than starting again.
Can you work on images you did not shoot, and do you work outside Sydney?
Yes to both, and they are the same answer. Retouching needs no travel, so we take this work from businesses anywhere in Australia and it makes no difference who held the camera. What does make a difference is the file. Raw files give us the most room. High quality exports still allow colour, crop and clean-up work. Small compressed files pulled off a website limit what is possible, so send us a sample first and we will tell you honestly what can be done with it before you commit to anything.
Do you edit property and real estate images?
Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons people come to us for editing alone. Listing images have their own conventions: verticals straightened, windows recovered so a view is not blown out, lawns and skies looking like the good version of themselves rather than a different property. Volume matters here too, so a consistent look across a whole listing is the thing worth getting right.
Do you retouch people, and how far do you go?
We work to whatever the brief asks for, and our default is conservative: even skin tone, stray hairs, a distracting reflection. We do not reshape bodies or faces unless a client specifically asks, because images that do not look like the person tend to undermine the trust they were made to build.