Connecting iPhoto to iCloud

As to iCloud you are correct it is not possible

you need to be using El Captain and Photos to connect Photos to iCLoud - that is not an option with older OSs or iPhoto

As to mail and facebook I have no idea what you even want as they are not places and there is nothing to connect to

You can post to Facebook directly from iPhoto and changes made on the Mac or on FB will sync - set in the iPhoto preferences

You can send photos using Mail - again you set that in the iPHoto preferences

LN

Which version of iPhoto do you have, and which version of OS X?

DO you have third part firewall software or LittleSnitch or similer installed?

LN

Have you two-step verification enabled for your iCloud account?

Then you need to create an app-specific password for iPhoto.

See this post by jshort:

Re: I am using iPhoto version 9.6 and I can no longer get an email sent with a photo attached. I get an error message saying the email did not go through because the server did not reply. I can send the photo with Mail. Help!

This solution is for those of you using 2-step verification for your Apple ID and are using iCloud as the mail server that you are trying to mail photos with.

I too had this issue. The problem in my case occurred because I had setup 2-step authentication for my Apple ID. If you have done this then you will get the error message "the mail server did not recognize your email/password...". To solve the problem go to:

https://appleid.apple.com

Click "Manage Your Apple ID"

Verify your identity with the device you selected (if this step does not show up then you have not likely set up 2-step authentication and this is not your solution)

Click Password and Security in the left column

Click Generate an app-specific password

Enter iPhoto as the name of the app

Copy the password and paste this into the password box in iPhoto where you would normally enter your apple ID (in the mail account section in iPhoto preferences).

And...voila' (I hope)

Are the entries for your Facebook account and the Mail account correct in the iPhoto > Preferences > Accounts?

If you have neither any firewalls or antivirus software installed, like Kaperski, that could be intercepting the connection, check, if something else you installed recently could be blocking the access.

You can test this by restarting your Mac in safe mode and testing in this mode: See:

Try safe mode if your Mac doesn't finish starting up - Apple Support

and also:

OS X Mavericks: If you think you have incompatible login items