Well done, Crew
I have felt for some time that the gallery needed some attention, and I have to say that, as always, the Crew have taken a measured evaluation and come up with an excellent solution. Your guidelines ought to make it easier for everyone.
One thing that struck me as I read this thread is would it be possible to give the recent photos their own link, like the individual categories? The space currently occupied by the recent photos could then be dedicated to more random images. That way we can easily access the recent photos to see what is new regardless of category, and with more random images being displayed, a greater selection of images that maybe would not be viewed as much will be more visible.
It must be infuriating to make changes as you have done here and then get more suggestions!!