Problems with EXIF when exporting portrait style pictures.

Question

So, I just recently upgraded 09 with the intention of using it to organize my photography work. I didn't work much with 08 and didn't have any photos in it so I don't know if this has always been a problem or not. When I import photos that have been shot vertically, in portrait mode, something is being done to the EXIF data, other than it being rotated. My camera has auto-rotate on and they were originally transfered with the software Canon gives you. Anyways, when I export these photos, whether by dragging tot he desktop or File >> Export, and then open it in another program, such as preview, and attempt to view the EXIF data, it's nonexistent. I should mention that these photos were not edited in any way in iPhoto, just imported and then exported. Also, the EXIF data can be viewed in iPhoto, just not anywhere else apparently.
I've sort of solved the problem just by trial and error but I still don't know what causes it. When I select these photos and use "Revert to Original", they export perfectly and have all the EXIF data. Also, if I edit the photo somehow, enhance, etc., the EXIF seems to come back when I export. This only seems to affect the photos shot in portrait so I can only imagine it has something to do with how iPhoto deals with the autorotate function on already rotated photos. I decided I would try to import directly to iPhoto rather than import from camera with the Canon software and then import into iPhoto to see if it was the Canon software but the same issue occurs. So, my options at this point are to just select all my photos that I import and revert to original or turn off autorotate on my camera and sift through my photos and manually rotate them. The former isn't a huge deal but it would be a lot more convenient if all my EXIF didn't get erased every time I take a portrait shot in and out of iPhoto. Other than that, I don't seem to see any option to change how photos are imported but maybe I'm missing something obvious.
I was wondering if anyone else has this issue, or if it was a problem in iPhoto '08. If it matters, my camera is a Rebel XT.

Answer 1

When iPhoto rotates the auto rotated photos from your Canon the modified file that gets creates loses much of the EXIF data. To get the EXIF data included in the file you have to export the file to the desktop via File->Export->File Export and select the option to include the title and keywords.
Another way is to turn off the auto-rotate in the camera, upload to the desktop first where you can losslessly rotate those files with PhotoTool CM orXee. Then import into iPhoto. That way no modified file is created and if you drag the photo to the desktop you'll be getting the original file which contains the EXIF data.