how do i recover photos after an accidental restore of an old phone?

• Did you configure the new phone to back up to iCloud? If so, you can restore the iCloud backup
• Did you enable Photo Stream to save photos in real time?
• Did you have a backup of the new phone on your computer?
• Did you transfer the Camera Roll to your computer using a photo management app or Camera/Scanner wizard before restoring?

If you did any of these you can get the photos back. If you did none of them you cannot.

I'm hoping someone at Apple catches this. I haven't felt so melancholy in a long time.

The easiest fix in the world for this thread-topic problem is not to assume that I am as smart as you. I am pretty smart. Apple's products are awesome. But seriously, if I have to think through Mr. Finch's helpful list above (and it is logical, but only after the fact), how hard is a dialog box in iTunes before starting a restore backup from an old phone to a new (been using for 2 months) iphone in iTunes that says something like "All photos and data on this iphone that you wish to save should be saved before you backup, because that's what a restore backup will cause you to lose, for crying out loud. Do you still wish to continue?" That would get my attention instead of feeling like I do... right... now. With 300+ brand new pix and videos on my brand new, still awesome iPhone 6, lost? Gee, thanks for being so streamlined and elegant and user-fr-. Oh wait... I'll get over it. But I've found something with the Apple logo where 2 out of 3 really is bad.

Georgexto wrote:

I'm hoping someone at Apple catches this. I haven't felt so melancholy in a long time.

Won't happen. Apple does not participate in the forum. This is a user to user forum. If you want Apple to "catch this", then you need to go to the feedback link and let Apple know. That is where they read things. www.apple.com/feedback.