thank you for all the kind comments! its weird having a non-mobile person to shoot for a change after being used to a hyper-mobile 2yr old
i actually had never heard of the "journalistic" type until just now! i just liked getting the more candid, natural looking shots over posed ones. good to know theres a word for it 
and to the question about what i'm using i have a rebel xt and split between my 50mm 1.8 and new tamron 28-75 2.8 for lenses (although i'm wondering if my new tamron already needs calibration....little fuzzier than i'd like but might just be getting used to it)