System and method for generating a photograph with variable image quality

1. A method of managing image data for a digital photograph, comprising:

capturing image data corresponding to a scene with a camera assembly;

segmenting the image data into a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion corresponds to a visual element in the scene that has a proximity relationship with a predetermined location within the photograph;

processing the image data of the second portion to have a quality lower than the image data of the first portion; and

storing an image file for the scene, the image file containing image data corresponding to the first and second portions so that the image file has a high quality portion and a low quality portion.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing the image data corresponding to the first portion to reduce a quality of the image data corresponding to the first portion.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the second portion of the image data is carried out by retaining a predetermined amount of the image data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the second portion of the image data is carried out by applying a compression algorithm.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising processing image data adjacent the first portion of the image data such that the adjacent image data has a quality between the quality of the second portion of the image data and the quality of the first portion of the image data.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the adjacent image data is processed to have a graduated quality from the quality of the second portion of the image data to the quality of the first portion of the image data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the visual element in the scene is identified using pattern recognition.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the pattern recognition is used to identify a face of a person.

9. A camera assembly for taking a digital photograph, comprising:

a sensor that captures image data corresponding to a scene;

a controller that segments the image data into a first portion and a second portion, and that processes the image data of the second portion to have a quality lower than the image data of the first portion, wherein the first portion corresponds to a visual element in the scene that has a proximity relationship with a predetermined location within the photograph; and

a memory that stores an image file for the scene, the image file containing image data corresponding to the first and second portions so that the image file has a high quality portion and a low quality portion.

10. The camera assembly of claim 9 , wherein the controller processes the image data corresponding to the first portion to reduce a quality of the image data corresponding to the first portion.

11. The camera assembly of claim 9 , wherein the second portion of the image data is processed by retaining a predetermined amount of the image data.

12. The camera assembly of claim 9 , wherein the second portion of the image data is processed by applying a compression algorithm.

13. The camera assembly of claim 9 , wherein the controller processes image data adjacent the first portion of the image data such that the adjacent image data has a quality between the quality of the second portion of the image data and the quality of the first portion of the image data.

14. The camera assembly of claim 13 , wherein the adjacent image data is processed to have a graduated quality from the quality of the second portion of the image data to the quality of the first portion of the image data.

15. The camera assembly of claim 9 , wherein the visual element in the scene is identified using pattern recognition.

16. The camera assembly of claim 15 , wherein the pattern recognition is used to identify a face of a person.

17. The camera assembly of claim 9 , wherein the camera assembly forms part of a mobile telephone that includes call circuitry to establish a call over a network.