I'm just glad I'm not starting out now. As much as I did really like digital photography for the amount of control it gave me and the disappearance of film and lab costs I have to admit that the job was a lot more fun when we shot on film. We had to be so much more creative. It was frequently hilarious. The job went from being creative and solving numerous problems to shooting headshots and wine bottles against a white background.
I really miss the days of working out how we were going to shoot stuff. Now it's all done on a computer. Yawn. And it all looks the same. Shooting on film was stressful but that kept you on your toes. We went to a lot of trouble to get a good shot and the effort was usually worth it and very satisfying. I miss that more than I realised for a long time. I also miss the social side of going to the lab, bumping into other photographers there, getting to know the people who sold you the film and lighting, etc... My wife doesn't miss the fridge full of film though.