Week 1 of the 52 Week Photo Project

The assignment for last week's 52 week Photo Project with LensProToGo was a self portrait without you in it...something that represents you. Actually tonight was the last night to upload the photo to Flickr.  I've been thinking about this for the last few days. You wouldn't think this would be such a difficult decision! But there's so many things that define us.

I'm a mom and a wife...
I'm a huge fan of my kids' sports...
I've been a runner for close to 30 years...
I love to read and I love to own books (and have an overflowing bookcase to show for it)...
I'm a sucker for any animal that needs a home and so we now have 6 pets...
I enjoy taking photos, and creating photo books and gifts with them...
What to choose?!

In the end, I went with the cameras.

I am definitely a shutterbug.  I take pictures of anything and everything.  I love taking photos of scenes around town, and I make a calendar of those photos every year.  I enjoy taking pictures on vacations, and at holidays, at the beach and on the ski slopes.  A camera goes with me pretty much everywhere.  I love sports photography...much of the time I find myself watching a game from behind a lens.  And I take a lot of photos of my kids' friends and their teammates as well.  

Some months back I was driving the soccer carpool with a car full of preteen girls and I asked them a couple questions about what they liked about having photos.  The girls were really quick to respond that they love having photos and really like looking back through old photos of themselves too because then they have fun remembering things that happened.  The one comment that really hit home though was..."When I grow up, I am going to take lots of pictures of my kids, just like you do."  

WOW.  That comment made my day.  Kids may not always appreciate the pictures at the moment you're taking them, but they will appreciate them later!  And you will too!  

So for me, choosing the cameras made the most sense.  They seem to be a part of my life more days than not, and taking photos gives me joy!

If you're doing the 52 Week Photo Project, what did you pick to represent yourself?