Yes, you should be able to get you photos back from the problem drive.
I am not exactly sure what has happened in your situation. I suggest that you first try a "Complete File Search" of your problem hard drive for the specific photo file types. If you can no longer see the drive as a drive letter, then search the "physical drive" (the booting drive is usually physical drive 0, and a second drive is usually physical drive 1 - but you should be able to tell which is which from the drive sizes).
You will be able to use the demo version to find and preview the files found. In the results screen, click on a file to preview it in the bottom window. If you find what you are looking for then you can purchase a product activation key from
www.recovermyfiles.com, enter it into the program and save your files.
You may not get full file names back with a Complete File Recover, however you may also like to try a Complete Format Recover as this should bring back the entire missing partiton on your drive.