Alignment of embedded pictures in Mail

Question

I am trying to figure out how to have control over the alignment of photos that are attach/embedded into an email I send out. Aside from the issue of whether the photo is "attached" or "embedded"; when I look at the email, and choose to insert a photo that is of vertical orientation - I would like it to appear that way in Mail, rather than have it turned onto it's side to conform to the typical landscape orientation.
I'm currently running OS 10.5.6 on my Macbook. I do not use iPhoto (and will never again - but that's a story for another forum); I use adobe bridge or even simply Finder to select the pictures. Lastly, when I do open the photo from either Adobe Bridge, Elements, Photoshop; or from Finder into Preview, the photos in question do appear at the correct orientation. It is that Mail changes them.
Thank-you so very much to anyone who has any idea, or perhaps wishes to commiserate with me!!

Answer 1

Thank you both for your suggestions, I looked at the meta data information like you suggested, and the orientation is correct. 0 - for horizontal, and 1 - for vertical.
Ernie - I'll look into the camera details, because now that I think of it the problem has been new since the new camera. I have a Nikon DSLR, and I haven't ever done anything with respect to an orientation tag. However, given that the file data is correct as stated above, I'm wondering it it isn't a "communications" problem between Adobe and Mail.
Playing around yesterday this is what I learned further: If I open a vertical picture in Preview (it is correct) but when I move it to mail it turns, so I"m not sure how that fits-in or contradicts with the advice that Mail uses Preview to render the attached images - indeed this may show that Mail is not properly communicating with other programs.
Also, I went into Photoshop, rotated the picture 90 degrees, saved it, rotated it back to the original, saved it. And wouldn't you believe it, Mail attaches it correctly.
Also, if I do any alternations in photoshop, then import into iPhoto, then transfer from iPhoto to Mail, the picture is correct.
But if I do the alterations from iPhoto I've only got a 50/50 chance of seeing the picture correctly in any other program. I've heard this complaint numerous times about iPhoto being "tricky" with respect to altered photos remaining altered when brought into other programs.
(as an aside this is why I left iPhoto, was because I had touched up 150 photos, had them developed, but about 60% of the photos came back to me in their original state despite appearing correctly altered on my computer - this has happened twice in a row, and it's not necessarily the same pictures that are mistaken each time. I repeated all the alterations in Photoshop, and have had 100% success)
So while the latter experiments can serve as a "bandaid" solution for the emailing, it is cumbersome and not ideal.