Just an FYI....If you are a member of Sam's Club, you can get Annual Passes at a SUBSTANTIAL discount!!! Put in my order today and got a Platinum Annual Pass (everything but water parks) for $924.78...
Everything gets linked to your MagicBand/MDE account. Some places still want to see the card to give you any discounts, so it is always good to have it on hand, just in case.
Disneyland has the photos on the pass, but they have photos on ALL tickets (at least when I was last there in 2015)...Mainly because they do not use the MagicBands.
Currently, there are no photographs taken for WDW APs. You purchase the AP and it goes on your MDE account. First time you enter a park, the AP gets activated.