1. A method of performing a biometric identification, the method comprising: illuminating a small-area of a finger of an individual with illumination light from an illumination source; receiving, at a sensor, light scattered from the small-area of the finger; generating, with a processor, a local feature profile from the received light, wherein the local feature profile identifies a feature of the small-area of the finger, the feature of the small-area of the finger being of a type predetermined to exhibit substantial local consistency; and analyzing, with a processor, the generated local feature profile to perform the biometric identification, wherein analyzing the generated local feature profile comprises comparing the generated local feature profile with a reference local feature profile, wherein the reference local feature profile was generated from light scattered from a small-area reference skin site, and wherein the small-area of the finger is from a substantially different portion of the finger than the small-area reference skin site.