While Thickbox is a nice solution because it's already built in, my personal preference is a library called Shadowbox.js
I've used a lot of different lightbox style modal dialog implementations, and Shadowbox is by far the most comprehensive and functional. The way it handles content -- be it images, text, or video -- greatly surpasses every other solution I've tried. It's simple, effective, and quite frankly the best in my ever so humble opinion. I cannot say enough good things about it, and the examples on their site really speak for themselves.
While I haven't tested this plugin specifically, it does purport to give you the powers of Shadowbox via an easily installed plugin solution. Shadowbox is simple enough however, that one could easily drop it in to your own theme or plugin.
TheKeg's critique was spot on, so I have nothing to add to that. But that said, great work on the character. Puts my first fully modeled, textured, and rigged character right to shame.
As for the website design, may I suggest implementing jQuery to display your images? My favorite is Shadowbox. Doing this would allow you to put the thumbnails on the main page and enlarge them to a reasonable size.
Error: Image corrupt or truncated: <unknown>
Source File: <unknown>
Line: 0
<script type="text/javascript" src="shadowbox-3.0.3/shadowbox.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="shadowbox-3.0.3/shadowbox.css">
Should be:
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="shadowbox-3.0.3/shadowbox.css">
<script type="text/javascript" src="shadowbox-3.0.3/shadowbox.js"></script>
Looks like they use Shadowbox.js. For commercial use you need to pay for a license.
Another similar one that I've seen other servers use is Fancybox.
Tally another vote for a black background. Done!
Re: the galleries, I'm actually just using a modified version of the basic Wordpress template that comes with a fresh install. (I used Wordpress as a basic CMS to speed up the process of posting new galleries, and to make sharing/publishing easier.)
The portfolio galleries are done using AD Gallery, a jQuery plug-in which I implemented into the basic template that comes with Wordpress. Then I modified the display via CSS edits/overrides. The galleries listed under "Recent Shoots" (and linked from individual blog posts) use a lightbox display plug-in called Shadowbox JS, which is a snap to add to WordPress and simply hijacks image links to allow the lightbox behavior. (You can prevent this behavior when not desired by using a bypass flag on applicable images.)