Just one guy's opinion but you can look at the issue from either a gaming or an historical perspective. From a game standpoint, you get renown for completing missions so if these things are important to you then trying to accomplish the mission as ordered is probably a good thing.
Obviously as Captain you have to weigh the risks and act accordingly, getting sunk trying to photograph a harbour does the USN no good whatsoever. However, outside the scope of the game, even being unsuccessful might provide valuable intelligence to higher HQ's. Discretion is sometimes the better part of valour.
You would seldom be in possession of all the reasons why the pics are needed so this omission is not necessarily "gamey" but others no doubt have different opinions.
I've actually never had a photo mission in SH4, done a fair bit of life guarding though. Historically beaches and potential invasion sites were more likely to be photographed than ports for just the reasons that you have encountered, enemy defences.
Best to stay out of the lion's den if the lion is home and alert.
Good Hunting
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