Look at today's paper Warren; they listened to you!
I, for one, don't mind the EXIF data. There are lots of photo enthusiasts who would be curious to know more about how pictures were taken, and the technical aspect of it is a first step.
All the Star has to do now is to get new headshots for its photographers: first, send the photogs out for a make-over and then for a "glamour shots" portrait.
Exif data is rarely important enough to publish. Would a paper ever list how a story was written? For example:
"MacBook Pro, 3-GB of RAM, Microsoft Word 2008 with Spelling on, Grammar on, AutoCorrect off. Typed at 45 words per minute."If someone looks at a picture and the first thing that comes to their mind is, "I wonder what exposure mode the photographer used", then the photographer has failed.
Technique can be important to mention but technique and Exif data aren't the same thing. Meaning, (exif) numbers alone don't tell the story. Two photos can have identical Exif data and yet be wildly different in appearance.
A few days ago, the Star's "Big Picture" featured an underwater photo by Vince Talotta. The technique behind this picture would've made for a nice story. Most folks probably don't know that you can take pictures with a fish tank.
The Toronto Star still has to decide what the point is to its "Big Picture" feature. Is the point to feature a unique photograph or is the point to run any picture big?
Remember the old saying: if a photo isn't any good, blow it up. If it's still not interesting, blow it up even more. If it's still not good, then frame it and hang it on a wall.
It would be nice to be able to pull a "Big Picture" from each day's assignments. But unfortunately, daily assignments can be ugly. Press conferences, high school sports, business portraits, product shots, limited time, limited access ...
While some days might be diamonds, many can be dogs. Sometimes, special photos require special planning.
Speaking of big, if you want a photo to look big, it's always better for that picture to be more wider than deeper. All things equal, a wide and shallow picture will seem to be bigger than a narrow and vertical picture.
It's due to the way our eyes/brain work. (Hey, there's a reason why TV sets, computer monitors and movie screens are horizontal).
If you're publishing a "Big Picture" and want it to look really big, stop with the vertical photos. A horizontal (or square) picture that runs full page-width will seem bigger than a vertical image that occupies the same square inches.