Obtaining images for use in determining one or more properties of skin of a subject

A system for determining values of a plurality of properties of skin of a subject, the system comprising:

• a control unit;
• and
• an apparatus for obtaining images for use in determining the values of the plurality of properties of skin of the subject, the apparatus comprising:
• an image sensor unit for generating an image of a skin sample, wherein the skin sample corresponds to an area of skin of the subject within a field of view, FOV, of the image sensor unit when the skin of the subject is spaced a predetermined working distance from the image sensor unit;
• a first light arrangement comprising a plurality of light sources that are spatially distributed around an optical axis of the image sensor unit for illuminating the skin of the subject from a respective plurality of directions;
• a second light arrangement comprising one or more light sources for illuminating the skin of the subject;
• and
• wherein the plurality of light sources in the first light arrangement are spaced from the optical axis of the image sensor unit and arranged such that light emitted by the light sources in the first light arrangement that is specularly reflected by a skin sample at the predetermined working distance is incident on the image sensor unit;
• wherein the one or more light sources in the second light arrangement are spaced from the optical axis of the image sensor unit and arranged such that light emitted by the light sources in the second light arrangement that is specularly reflected by a skin sample at the predetermined working distance is not incident on the image sensor unit;
• wherein the control unit is configured to:
• selectively and individually control each of the light sources in the first light arrangement to individually illuminate the skin of the subject;
• receive a respective plurality of first images from the image sensor unit, each first image being obtained by the image sensor unit when a respective light source in the first light arrangement is illuminating the skin;
• process each first image to determine a respective initial value for a first skin property and combine the determined initial values to determine a value for the first skin property;
• selectively control the second light arrangement to illuminate the skin of the subject;
• receive one or more second images generated by the image sensor unit, each second image being obtained by the image sensor unit when the second light arrangement is illuminating the skin of the subject;
• and
• process the one or more received second images to determine a value for one or more second skin properties.