1. A method for producing an image of a subject with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, the steps of the method comprising: a) acquiring data from the subject using an MRI system by generating radio frequency (RF) energy with at least one transmit RF element and measuring magnetic resonance signals formed in response thereto with at least two receive RF elements; b) determining a directivity for each of the at least two receive RF elements; c) reconstructing an image corresponding to each of the at least two receive RF elements by reconstructing data acquired in step a) by the respective receive RF element; and e) producing an image of the subject by combining the images reconstructed in step c) using the directivities for the at least two receive RF elements.