400 bucks for 2 pages html/css doesn't seem bad if he has a few a month.
My personal site I spent a lot of time on because I was looking around for different things I wanted to do. I was interested in finding another job at the time and wanted to make sure I was happy with it. I had time to spend on it so I took it slow.
I would look at one way of doing thumbs, then another. I had originally had one of the backgrounds animating with sprites, etc...
I like your website and am sure you may have spent a little more time getting what you wanted out of it as well. I always take it slower on my own stuff since there isn't a deadline.