Thanks for the suggestion Ollie. You helped me find the solution to the problem. I didn't use Image::MetaData::JPEG but I did use one similar to it, Image::ExifTool::Exif. Your suggestion got me looking for the right thing though thanks. I downloaded the module from CPAN, then I was able to do what I set out to accomplish. Heres the code I wrote for anyone that is interested:

#!/usr/local/bin/perl
#
# PicRenamer.pl 
# script to rename pics and videos based on the date
# in the following format "YYYY-MM-DD_HHmmSS_Event.JPG"
# 
# Written by: odog502
# backup all your files before trying this!!! Im not responsible
# for any missuse of this script
#

    $dir = 0;
    $event;
    $property;
    $filetype;

    print 'Enter location of files to be renamed (ex. C:/test): ';
    chomp($dir = <STDIN>);
    print 'Enter the name of event that describes these pictures(no sp
+aces): ';
    chomp($event = <STDIN>);
    print 'Enter the exif property that contains the date(eg Date/Time
+ Original): ';
    chomp($property = <STDIN>);
    # examples "File Modification Date/Time", "Create Date", "Date/Tim
+e Original"
    print 'Enter the extension of the filetype you want modify(e.g. \'
+jpg\'): ';
    chomp($filetype = <STDIN>);

    chdir ("$dir");

#
# gets appropriate files and sorts them by file name
#

    @files = <*.$filetype>;
    @files = sort {$a cmp $b} @files;

#
# Go through each filename and use exif to get its properties.
# Loop through each property until you find the one with the date
# Rename the file to the date found in the property, add the custom
# "event" name to the end.
#

    $i = 0;
    
    until ($i > $#files)
    {
        print "working on file: $i $files[$i]\n";
        open (FILEPROP, "C:\\Image-ExifTool-8.00\\exiftool.pl \"$dir\\
+$files[$i]\" |") or die $!;
        while (<FILEPROP>){
            chomp;
            if ( $_ =~ /$property\s*: (\d{4}):(\d{2}):(\d{2}) (\d{2}):
+(\d{2}):(\d{2})/){
                print "Changing to: $1-$2-$3_$4$5$6_$event.$filetype\n
+";
                rename "$files[$i]", "$1-$2-$3_$4$5$6_$event.$filetype
+";
            }
            $j++;
        }
        close FILEPROP;
        $i++;        
    }
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