Q: No update available iPhoto

Since we can not see you you need to provide details - like what version of iPhoto you have and of the OS and what has recently changed - otherwise we can only make guesses

I'll guess you just ugraded your OS to 10.10.5 and you do not keep your system up to date so to not have iPhoto 9.6.1 - if that guess is correct see Can't Update iPhoto because it is not available in the App Store

LN

Mac OS X 10.10.3 and newer include Photos. If you'd like to go on using iPhoto in addition to or instead of switching to Photos, click here and try following the instructions.

(133271)

Did you recently update to Yosemite?  You need to update iPhoto 9.6.1,  but you can no longer buy this version anywhere or update from the updates page of the App Store, because Apple stopped selling iPhoto.

You can only reinstall from your Purchases history, the fourth tab of the AppStore.

Barney-15E's user tip explains how to update to iPhoto 9.6.1 by reinstalling your App Store purchase.

See this link:   Get iPhoto 9.6.1 if you didn't update before OS X 10.10.3

In short - move the incompatible version to the Trash, but don't empty it.

Sign into the AppStore with your Apple ID, then open the fourth tab and reinstall.

Thanks everyone. I didn't purchase iPhoto from ap store, it came loaded on the laptop.

iPhoto can still be associated with your AppleID at the AppStore, if you ever updated it beyond iPhoto 9.4.5, even if it came preinstalled on your Mac.  The newer updates have only been available from the AppStore, just check your Purchases history.

I find it odd that when I open the preview window of a photo it won't let me do a simple "crop"

Do you mean the Preview.app?

In Preview you first have to select a cropping rectangle, and then the Crop tool become active.   Just select a art of the photo and then crop.