Is there a better and faster way to save your photos from your iCloud to your hard drive (MacPro laptop)?

I don't want to purchase more iCloud storage. I want to save all my photos on my Mac Pro laptop and external hard drive as a back up. Is there a faster way then to select all my photos in iPhoto on my laptop and import them to a folder on my Mac Pro and external hard drive? There should be an easier way.
I'm not too keen on the iCloud storage. I discovered I had ALL MY PHOTOS downloaded on my iPhone 6. I turned off the download on my iPhone. I just want to take pictures on my phone and save them where I don't have to pay for extra storage. Please advise with your expertise knowledge and experience.

Thanks a bunch!