Time Machine question

Hey campers

I am trying to plan out a backup/storage solution for my MacBook Pro... I am going to get an ExpressCard eSATA card and an OWC Elite Dual Drive External Enclosure (the one with eSATA, FireWire 400/800 and USB). I currently have 1x 1TB Drive that is my storage drive. I also upgraded my laptops internal drive to 500GB.

My question then is this... If I buy a 1.5TB drive and use it in the dual drive enclosure along with the 1TB drive, can I partition the 1.5TB drive with 500GB to backup the internal and the remaining 1TB for the storage drive?

I am sure someone is asking "why Time Machine for a storage drive?", reason is, I am a photographer and am storing my pictures on it. A mirroring array is a possibility, but a mirror array doesn't save me if pictures are accidentally deleted (as happened to me a month ago). Time Machine will save me from that miss step. Of course CarbonCopyCloner is an option, but Time Machine is automatic and so stinkin sexy.

Thanks for the input!