Where to store iPhone pics on mac?

I'm new to the MacBook Pro and i have a question concerning transferring pictures from my iPhone to my mac. My iPhone storage is almost full so id like to create a folder to keep all my iPhone pictures on my macbook but I'm not sure what the best way to do this is. When i plug my iPhone in my mac, iPhoto pops up and under "Devices" My iPhone 5 is there. How can i transfer all my pictures to a folder on my computer and take them off my phone?

Just a matter of extracting the pictures.

Don't even have to use iPhoto. Open Image Capture instead & do it that way.

You just need to download Mac iPhone transfer platinum (it is a smart iPhone files manger tool) which allows you transfer iPhone files like music/movie/Pictures/TV Shows/Podcast/iTunes U/eBooks/Camera Roll/Ringtone/SMS/Contacts/Voice memos/Camera, etc. To Mac for backup easily.