Currently, I'm using this:

$albumroot = $_zp_themeroot . gettext ('/../../albums/') . getBareAlbumTitle();

i'm thinking that there MUST be a cleaner way to do it.

thanks in advance!

What do you want the result to be? If it is a server file path what you have won't even work. If someone sets the title of the album it won't match the folder and of course, the theme root has nothing to do with the albums paths. Also, paths are typically not translatable so the gettext('/../../albums/') is likely to cause trouble.

the server path is $path = getAlbumFolder().$album->name;