I want to give an update to this post almost 2yrs after writing it - I am now using the Grain Wordpress template for the photoblog.
For the home page: http://www.stevencherry.com I am using a great little WYSIWYG editor app found here http://www.wysiwygwebbuilder.com It is inexpensive, but quite powerful and very intuitive.
I am using Monoslideshow (www.monoslideshow.com) as my flash slideshow app.
Gallery: I began searching for good open source gallery software, and came up with PHPWebgallery. You can find it here:
http://www.phpwebgallery.net/
I was immediately impressed by how robust it is, and it offered a nice clean design. I also checked the latest versions of Coppermine and Gallery, but I am still no fan of their admin interface and setup.
Best regards,
Steve Cherry
www.StevenCherry.com