Choosing PHP or ? for building an automatic photo web.

Hi everyone I want to make my own web with my familie photos. At the same time I get a remote backup for our photos. I am new to web prgramming including HTML, but as an electronic engineer I have some fundamental understanding of programming. I use windows XP or Vista but that properly does not matter in web design? I have invested in a web service on surftown (only starter) for 5 years. So before I spend a lot time learning webprogramming, I would like some experience web programmers to tell me if my project is doable within a reasonable effort. I want 2 thinks that are a little uncommon: 1. User login protected by password (don't won't free access to all my photos). I have found some PHP code that does this and seems readable to me, so I guess this is trivial and on to the main problem. 2. I want the web source to automatic create a new tab or link or ?, when ever I upload a new set of photo's via FTP. I want the photos arranged in subfolders when I upload (preferreable two levels of subfolders). If I upload more photos in an existing folder with photos, they must appear automatickly. So the question is: is this doable for a newbie within a limited amount of hours? Is PHP the choice? Do I need to use mySQL for this? What features must the webhotel suport and do you know if Surftown does? Is there anywhere I get template source code for this, free or at a low price? best regards Peter Sørensen