My wife Heather asked that I take some portrait/avatar shots for her various online projects.  We went to Indian Mounds Park in St. Paul about an hour before sunset and took these:

Local photographer Dana Schoppe recommended the use of a “clamshell” technique for outdoor photos, which employs the use of two shoot-through umbrellas with two flashes in order to get really good coverage/diffusion across a face.  Great recommendation, as you can see in the first three pictures.