Inkjet printers give great results for photos, and are vastly cheaper than equivalent-performing colour laser printers (not even quite as good often).
If you're doing photos, stick with Inkjets. Canons are highly rated right now (I just got the iP4300 for �55 and it's great). Loads of Epsons, even all the really cheap ones, will print good photos.
Lasers, for text and diagrams are great however. Toners last longer, they're more reliable (well, so they say..), the print is finer, and they're faster.
For what you use, I'd stick to an inkjet though.