Try using a 150 - 200mm telephoto lens for a few reasons.
The depth of field (area in focus) will be better the farther you are away from your subject. If you learn to use the camera you can set the depth of field as needed such as fuzzing out the background.
There is less foreshortening (subjet's body parts are often distorted because you are too close). When I was a professional photographer I used a 90mm telephoto for portraits. Yields a much better result.
The subject is less likely to hear the shutter click if you are many feet away.
You can buy cords that will extend your flash unit and have someone closer to the subject with the flash. Better yet use a photographer's umbrella to fill in details and not upset the subject.
Always use flash to fill in the details.
If you can't use flash then get a few pieces of 24 X 24 white poster board from the drug store. Have someone stand on the other side of the subject (out of the camera's view) and point the poster board towards the subject. This can be used to fill in details and or add to the main light.
People tend to think that action shots are in some way important. They are usually not as good as a posed shot. You can usually set your camera (on a tripod) at another table. Read Kodak's small manuals on lighting and learn how to use a main light, fill lights and a highlighter on a snoot. Get a friend to help you set up the on site studio and position things as needed.
Bring a 12" X 12" mirror with you and place it in front of the camera so the subject can see what you are shooting. Tell them to tell you when they are ready. Alternatively, place the mirror so the subject sees their pose. Using the subject mirror I nearly always got the picture the female subject liked -- that is difficult to do with men and with women.
Try some odd angles with a willing subject. Nearly everyone uses the same angles. Try placing your camera on the bed of the table and looking up into the subject's face. Shoot from inside a pocket.
Think outside of the box.
In general, excellent photography is not about getting the action it is about getting creative and making a shot look natural.
Always shoot three shots, one an f stop under, one at the exposure, 1 over exposed.
Always use spot metering to shoot what is most important, the bridge, the ball, the face -- what are you primarily interested in. A neat shot would be to have the cue ball in focus and Jasmine out of focus and yet everyone would know it was her.
Zoom lenses are some of the worst lens. Flip for a dedicated set of lens from wide angle through about 200mm. Good lenses are not expensive and there is no need to buy name brand. I shot with a Pentax 35mm and a Yashica 2 1/4 for years and used X brand lenses. For really serious work you need a studio camera.
If you haven't bought a camera yet buy the one that gives the highest resolution you can afford and shoot everything at that resolution. Memory is cheap and your best pictures will blow up to 20 X 24, now we're talking photography. If I were still in the business I am sure I would study Photoshop or a related piece of software and then use it to "create" great pictures.
Photography is about having the best technology and knowing how to use it like you use a fork and a spoon. Then you can get creative. Most people don't learn to use their equipment and think they are artsey because they shoot a picture in low light or at 4X magnification.
One way to think about photography is that it is a medium to communicate an idea. First you need the idea then find a way to express it. Enough rambling. You can learn a great deal if you spend a day or two with a serious commercial photographer.
Couple of other tricks.
Never shoot someone head on. Makes them too wide. Ask them to point their shoulder at you.
In group photos tell the group that if they can see you, you can see them.
Good equipment is not expensive equipment. I was a professional for over ten years and never bought a new piece of equipment. The hobbiest buy the expensive stuff, trades it next year for the newest whatever. If its any good I got it for half price. Get to be friends with the people at the photo store and they will tell you when the good stuff comes around.
Get a manual or two on commercial photography, not a how to but a textbook and study it by taking the photos they describe. Kodak puts out some great technical manuals that are under appreciated.
Last one. Read some basic fine art books to learn about how to compose a picture to lead the viewer's eye to what you want them to look at. Study the photo ads in top shelf magazines and figure out how they did that and what they were trying to do. To this day, I still study commercial ads to see the latest lighting techniques. Photography is all about the use of light.
It's interesting that players can tune out distractions like background music and people talking but seem to be overly-sensitive to a camera shutter clicking. Has this been a problem for you too and how do you work around it?
and practice makes perfect, and the other posts in this thread have have good advice
