Q: why do i not have a photo folder on i cloud?  i thought all of my photos were being stored on i cloud.

If you mean photo stream photos, they can only be seen on an iOS device or computer that is signed into your iCoud account with photo stream enabled.  They can't be viewed on icloud.com unless you create a shared stresm with the public website feature enabled.

Also, don't try to use iCloud to back up your photos.  Photo stream photos only remain in iCloud for 30 days, and if you delete them from your device, they are also deleted from iCloud.  Camera roll photos are included in your iCloud backup, but if you delete the photos from your device, then continue to back it up, the backup containing the deleted photos will be overwritten by a backup that doesn't, and they will be lost.

To keep your camera roll photos, import them to your computer using your usb cable, as explained here: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083.  If you need to back up photo stream photos that aren't in your camera roll, save them to the camera roll by tapping Select, tap the photos, tap the share icon in iOS 7 (box with upward pointing arrow), then tap Save to Camera Roll.  Then they can be imported to your computer as well.