I'm unable to do the current update due to the lack of space.
I'm currently doing a backup to iCloud, which has roughly 40 more minutes.
After that is complete I want to delete my photos from my phone to allow for more free space for the update.
My issue/guestion is, will my photos be deleted from my backup as I'm directing my phone to delete the photos? I want to put the photos back on my phone after the update.
Back it up to icloud like you are doing and if it's possible, do a full back up to iTunes in your computer. You can then reset the device and start as new phone without backing up. Connect to wifi and do the update. Then you can reset again and back up from iTunes and or icloud. I am not sure if your photos roll backs up to icloud so be use caution before deleting. Good luck.
You should really back up all of your photos to your computer. If you delete them off your phone, they will get erased from your next backup. Your backup ONLY contains what is presently on your device, not everything that ever existed.
Also, while after you've exported your photos to your computer, you can use iTunes to update your iOS without having to clear out so much space on your phone.
iCloud stores photos in two ways, provided they are enabled.
The first is the Photo Stream. Settings for Photo Stream may be found in Settings>Photos>Photos & Camera>My Photo Stream. Photo Stream will keep a record of your latest 1000 photos on all of your iOS devices. These will not be deleted from iCloud if you delete them from your camera roll, however, when if want to put them back on your camera roll, checking 1000 boxes and hitting 'save' could be tedious.
The second type of photo backup is what you are referring to. This is iCloud Backup. In Settings>iCloud>Storage & Backup>Manage Storage>yourbackup>Camera Roll: On. Note that if this is your first time backing up, you will not find yourbackup listed under "Manage Storage." If you have a backup of your camera roll in this way, it is there to stay, until the next time you back up. If you were to turn off iCloud Backup after you back up, in theory, the backup should also stay put. The only way to achieve getting these photos back, however, would be to do a complete restore from iCloud, which will leave your updated device with only what is included in the backup.
If you don't want to deal with either of these options, it would be best to listen to what pdroth is saying and back the photos up to a computer.
Backup & Update
