How to backup pictures from 'photo library"

Question

I've been to 3 different stores across the US and no one can answer my questions or just say that my pictures are pretty much lost.
I had a 3G and a 15 MBP that had pictures of my daughter on them at birth. I had to send my MBP back to apple to get fixed and at the time the rep at the store asked if I had backups. I told him the only thing that mattered to me were the pictures on there at the time and that I had a copy of them on my 3G phone and I could synch them to my 17" MBP.
Fast forward, and A) my time machine backup doesn't work from my 15" MBP B) I can't figure out how to get to the pictures to get them off.
Now let me clarify B some.
When I go into the photo albums I have "camera roll" "photo library" "last 12 months" and "last import". I can back up Camera roll to iTunes or download pictures directly from the phone in windows - what I can;t figure out is how to get the pictures out of "photo library". That's where my daughters pictures are.
I have a copy of these pictures on my 3GS phone from previous sync, but the upgrade to the iOS 4 has completely ruined them (the blurry image issue) and the only originals I have left are on the 3G.
I could individually mail each photo to myself if I swapped out my SIM card, but that's a lot of photos to email.. an easier solution would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Photos in the iPhone's Camera Roll, which is where photos that are captured by the iPhone are stored, can and should be imported by your computer as with any other digital camera even though these photos are included with your iPhone's backup which is updated by iTunes as the first step during the iTunes sync process. Not a good idea to depend on your iPhone alone for these photos as with any other digital camera, and the same for the iPhone's backup which stores a significant amount of other data.
Photos in the iPhone's Photo Library include photos that were transferred from your computer to your iPhone only via the iTunes sync/transfer process, which is a one way transfer process only - from your computer to your iPhone. Photos transferred from your computer are not included with the iPhone's backup. These photos should be included with your computer's backup. Photos transferred from your computer are optimized for viewing on the iPhone as part of the iTunes transfer process - the original resolution of these photos is reduced which is why transferring these photos in the opposite direction is not supported.
There are a number of 3rd party paid utilities that provide for transferring these photos in the opposite direction, but the original resolution of these photos will be lost in the process.