Where has the magic gone?

While I was taking the History of Photography class offered at UW-Eau Claire my professor had mentioned that even though she has a masters in photography she still allows her daughter to get those crappy school photos. She said that she allows this because its something special for her daughter. Last week I went to school, which has not started yet, just to see if I could talk to her about my choice to move from digital photography to large format film photography. Luckily she was there at the time of my visit. I had told her, "I'm not sure that I want to continue with the direction of digital photography", to which she inquired, "Why is that?" "There's no magic left in it. When I can go to a location and shoot off 1000 photo's and pick 2 that might work, then alter them in photoshop . . . its just lost that appeal for me", I said. I was surprised to hear that she completely agreed with my decision. Now, a week later, I remembered her telling the class about those crappy school photos and it finally clicked. Even though those crappy photos were taken by, I assume, a digital camera its the, the anticipation as the "photo" day approaches, the process of choosing just the right clothes, the posing, the waiting during the count down before snap, not knowing how you'll look until finally that day comes when the photos are delivered to your hand and then the reveal. That's the magic, for the consumer, but what about the photographer? With digital that magic has gone to speed of process! By slowing it down I plan on finding that lost magic, that wonderment. I want the magic back!