Is there a way to at least force the scaling to remain proportioned or is that still tied to setting some sort of fixed/absolute pixel dimensions ?

Seems nuts to let the image get all distorted...

I should also add that changing to the FILL Mode does fix my original issue - but having the image stretch and fit makes it look like crap.

Thank you so much. I think that what you suggest last is what I really want, but don't know how to do that.

Here is a test example of what it was before your suggestions, http://www.randomnessphotography.com/galleries/nature/
(so stupid of me not to provide and example).

I suspect I dont want to use the FILL Mode in ImageScaleMode because I want the images to not look so crappy when they browser expands them.

But again, I am not sure if I really understand your last paragraph to make it do what I want it to do.

I am losing my mind, playing with a lot of settings here and get the thumbnails to sit directly below the image. I dont want any space, well maybe a few pixels, but right now I get a huge distance between the thumbnails and the bottom of the main image.

Please, what am I doing wrong? It seems no matter what screen sizes I choose - AUTO/LARGE/SMALL I cannot get the thumbnails to sit right under the image...

What is it ?