A method of performing acoustic imaging comprising: disposing a carrier in a borehole in an earth formation , the carrier including an acoustic imaging device, the acoustic imaging device including a plurality of acoustic transducers, each transducer of the plurality of acoustic transducers having an associated orientation; selecting a target location, and selecting a group of transducers from the plurality of the acoustic transducers to transmit an acoustic beam to be electronically directed to the target location; selecting at least one transducer from the group of transducers as a transmitter and selecting a plurality of other transducers from the group of transducers as receivers, the transmitter having an orientation toward at least one location proximate to the target location, and transmitting an acoustic signal only by the transmitter ; detecting an acoustic return signal by the transmitter and by the plurality of other transducers in the group of transducers; estimating a travel time for each of the transducers of the group of transducers, the travel time corresponding to the amount of time between transmitting the acoustic signal to the at least one location and detecting the acoustic return signal, the estimating including measuring a travel time for each other transducer of the plurality of other transducers in the group of transducers, and estimating a travel time for the transmitter based on the travel time for each other transducer of the plurality of other transducers; calculating a beamforming delay associated with the transmitter and the plurality of other transducers based on the travel time, the beamforming delay configured to cause the group of transducers to generate an acoustic beam that is directed to the target location. disposing a carrier in a borehole in an earth formation , the carrier including an acoustic imaging device, the acoustic imaging device including a plurality of acoustic transducers, each transducer of the plurality of acoustic transducers having an associated orientation; selecting a target location, and selecting a group of transducers from the plurality of the acoustic transducers to transmit an acoustic beam to be electronically directed to the target location; selecting at least one transducer from the group of transducers as a transmitter and selecting a plurality of other transducers from the group of transducers as receivers, the transmitter having an orientation toward at least one location proximate to the target location, and transmitting an acoustic signal only by the transmitter ; detecting an acoustic return signal by the transmitter and by the plurality of other transducers in the group of transducers; estimating a travel time for each of the transducers of the group of transducers, the travel time corresponding to the amount of time between transmitting the acoustic signal to the at least one location and detecting the acoustic return signal, the estimating including measuring a travel time for each other transducer of the plurality of other transducers in the group of transducers, and estimating a travel time for the transmitter based on the travel time for each other transducer of the plurality of other transducers; calculating a beamforming delay associated with the transmitter and the plurality of other transducers based on the travel time, the beamforming delay configured to cause the group of transducers to generate an acoustic beam that is directed to the target location. <EOS>