A face is detected and identified within an acquired digital image. One or more features of the face is/are extracted from the digital image, including two independent eyes or subsets of features of each of the two eyes, or lips or partial lips or one or more other mouth features and one or both eyes, or both. A model including multiple shape parameters is applied to the two independent eyes or subsets of features of each of the two eyes, and/or to the lips or partial lips or one or more other mouth features and one or both eyes. One or more similarities between the one or more features of the face and a library of reference feature sets is/are determined. A probable facial expression is identified based on the determining of the one or more similarities.
