What kind of printer do I need to professionally print my digital photos out of?

I'd like to print my own photos I take with a digital camera, so I was wondering what kind of printer (of a reasonable price, of course) I need to develope on to accomplish this and what kind of "plates" (I don't know what the shiny, waxy "paper" is called that photos are developed on) do I need to buy for the photos to be printed on? And what kind of program do I need on my computer that allows me the choose the photo's size and print zoomed shots? Thanks.