Frustrated - trying to build a portfolio site

I'm trying to build a portfolio site, but am frustrated. I want to have thumbnails on the home page, showing various sections of the site. When a user clicks on the thumbnail, they will go to the main page for that section. Once there, they will be able to see the images for that section. I want to have the images appear in large format to show detail. I don't want more than one image per page due to concerns about the time it takes to load more than one image. So, I want the visitor to be able to see all of the images by clicking on right and left arrows on the current image.

Any help/suggestions will be most gratefully appreciated.

Thanks in advance.