Keep the confirmation but go ahead and let them into the site... If they haven't clicked the link for a few days send a couple reminders... after a week just disable their account.
That's what I do except that I don't disable the account (except in the case of blatant spam) but just forbid the user to upload more than one photo until his email has been confirmed...
This is what I am currently doing. They can browse the site and need to register to comment/add content. I also plan to add support for OpenID.
However, ive had feedback from some people that the two step registration process is very annoying (even if just once).
