1. A method for processing an image of a person, the method comprising: defining a first search area in response to a value of a metric parameter and to a location of an element of interest within the image; generating an edge detection data structure, wherein some of the elements of the edge detection data structure are indicative of edges of the image which are located within an edge detection search area that is contained within the first search area; determining a contour path in the edge detection data structure in response to multiple edges of the edge detection data structure, wherein the contour path includes a single data structure element from each column of the data structure; and retrieving a face portion of the image, wherein the face portion is included within a mask that is responsive to the contour path.