Phil:
It depends on the degree of protection you're looking for. In either case you'll need to create a separate library for the protected photos. You can use
iPhoto Buddy to create a password protected library and also use it to move between multiple libraries easily. I've found that it's not too difficult to get around it if you're really intent on doing so. The best method is to create a password disk image big enough to hold your protected library. Then when you want to access it open the disk image and use either iPhoto Buddy or
iPhoto Library Manager to move between the libraries.
A third possibility is to write an Apple script to quickly remove and apply all access to the full sized image file. Then replace the thumbnail version of it in the Data folder with a different file. Then run the script when you want to view it and again after you're finished.