You can check to see if this works the same for you..
When I load in a group of photos while in the Story board mode, I have a FX tool on each slide.
If I add an effect... for my test of this I added in the Emboss effect, I then later came back to the FX button and found an entry that said "Effect Settings" then Apply to All.
This let me apply the Emboss effect to everything, so each picture has the same effect at the same level of the effect