Getting close with a wideangle is usually more dramatic than far away with a telephoto. Use the widest angle of your zoom lens.
Try out some shots from below, pointing up.
The problem with digicams is the slow response time from pressing the button to capturing the pic. You may have to experiment with anticipating the shot. Also, if you have a manual focus option, pre-focus on the target spot.
Flash can be used to freeze action. Flash in daylight can give you shots with combinations of frozen subject (from the flash), and dynamic blur (from the daylight).