Hejsan,
If I have photos on an iPhone, I simply download them via a data/charging cable between my iPhone and iPhoto on my Mac. No real need to do it via iCloud. Of course you can set up your iCloud account to do it through the iCloud servers.
Make sure you have the latest IOS and OS installed and your iCloud account set for streaming if you will go via iCloud. You can look at your iCloud account info and see how much data you have there for photos that have not been deleted.
MVH, Michael