Some times you need an assistant, and on a paid shoot, having someone you know help with everything from grabbing gear to making kids laugh is invaluable and certainly worth 50-150 bucks depending on the budget.
Anyways, they are best utilized holding a bounce.
On this shoot (along time ago) I knew I was shooting in direct sunlight and shooting a larger group, so I knew id need to use a large bounce.
To properly expose this shot I wanted the background to be even with the fill and the sunlight to work as a highlight. To achieve this id position the bounce close enough to the subject opposite the direction of the sun or "Key" to fill "even" with the BG.
this one is over sharpened...yuck! I actually don't think I dig sharpening all that much. 