fill flash is a good thing one of the best, but back in the day... god I love being old... not only do you get to give advice nobody wants, you get a discount most places too.
Anyway the alternative to fill flash was to read the light in the shadow side, set your camera for that then go shoot the whole picture. If it was a great difference, you might want to split the difference. We (old farts) did it that way for years. Its a darn site more trouble and some of the newer less expensive cameras wont do it at all, but it is an option.
I know hopelessly out of date...where did I put that pinhole