Module questions from a newbie

Blog module is built in to Drupal core. For a single user blog you do not actually need to enable the blog module. There are so many tutorials and more than one method, that it is best to just Google. Personally I (and many experienced Drupal people) would use Views module to create a blog. You can Google for ways to make a blog using Views module.

There are many ways to build a gallery in Drupal. Deciding what features you require would help you choose one. I like Dynamic Display Block module. You do not actually need a gallery module to build a gallery, you can do that just with Views module, and there are tutorials for that. This is good http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwTPbrgYRs8 for creating a simple gallery without a gallery module, just Views (though the additional features the same tutor offers in his follow-on video are rather complicated)..

Drupal is a complex system with high learning curve. It tends not to work well on cheap hosting, and be a fair amount of work to maintain. If your only aim in the website is to build a blog and portfolio site I would be tempted to use Wordpress, which should get you there far more quickly. On the other hand, if you have the patience to spend more time and effort learning the most flexible and powerful CMS, starting learning Drupal with site of this kind would be a great way to start.

If you go with Drupal, Drupal Gardens hosted solution might suit your needs.