The present disclosure describes a non-learning based process and apparatus for detecting humans in an image. This may include receiving an image that has pixel distance information from a camera and using that to determine a height of the pixel above a ground surface. One or more regions may then be identified that may include a head and shoulders of an individual in the image. A multiple threshold technique may be used to remove some background regions, and a mean-shift technique used to find the local highest regions that may be combination of head and shoulders of the person. In embodiments, the view angle and/or the height of the camera may not be fixed.