Tutorial - Directing the pose of your model.
Arms and legs.

This tutorial (more like a series of tips and tricks) is aimed at portrait or fashion photographers: we're going to look at how to position the model's arms and legs to avoid distortion.

When framing includes arms or legs, it is especially important to avoid having limbs or sections of limbs (forearms, thighs, etc.) pointing towards the camera. The perspective effect would then cause a truly horrible distortion.

What a horror! This young woman has a horribly atrophied right arm.

All we had to do was ask the model to move his right arm slightly so that it was no longer facing the camera.

This case is a little extreme, but beware: it's a pose that inexperienced models can spontaneously strike.

The first plans.

What is in the foreground always appears larger than the rest. This effect is of course more pronounced the shorter the focal length, but remains visible in all cases. The photos below were taken at 50mm on a small sensor, which is equivalent to 75mm on a full-frame sensor.

Here the arm looks larger than life, not only because it's in front, but also because it's resting against the body.

Moving the model's left shoulder back slightly improves the rendering.

This problem can also be solved by avoiding short sleeves: bare skin always attracts more attention. The obvious conclusion: if you want to focus the eye on one face, dress everything else.