Hi Swane!
to the forum, how did you find out about us?
You will need to decide on 2 things:
a) What's your budget?
b) Is terrestrial viewing/photography more or less important than astronomical viewing?
oh and
c) Do you want to do astrophotography?
For terrestrial viewing and photography, you don't want a reflector. As Geoff said, the view will be upside down. That's just how reflectors work. You might be better off with a good quality spotting scope in an alt/az setup - or a good quality astronomical refractor also in an alt/az setup. I'm thinking of an Orion/Saxon 80mm ED, which cost about $600 for the OTA. You can put this on a good quality alt/az camera tripod and allow you to do bird/terrestrial photography with your SLR/Digicams.
If you want more of an astronomical fix, you might consider an EQ mount with drives, like the EQ5 which would be ok for the 80mm scope, but for something more solid, the EQ6 is the preferred. Of course you're then looking at > $1500-$2000 to get setup.
For astrophotography, the 80mm ED refractors perform great. Seeker has some shots in the Deep Space photography forum that you can see. For serious astrophotography, you will want the EQ6.
A newt on an EQ mount for astrophotography will work, but you may need to do some DIY such as moving the mirror forward in the OTA as you may not be able to reach focus with your SLR.
For your astrophotography, are you more concerned with planets/moon, or deep-space objects?
Sorry for all the questions, but to get the right advice we need to know more about your budget, your pursuits and your plans!
Hope to hear from you again soon!