1. Is the goal to be physically present yourself in each shot? Yes
It doesn't have to be your face, but a part of you at least!
2. Did you include other people/pets/objects in some of your shots as well? You can, many do, depends on what you want to do. It's all about telling a story, a snapshot of your life. If its your real life, or a fictional one.
3. Did you ever set the scene and then have someone else shoot the picture or is that "cheating"? That would defeat the "self" portion of the portrait along with the bit of you being in it. Otherwise it would just be a portrait
4. What did you do with the collection once you were finished? - Did you put them in an album and then write something for each picture or do you let the pictures speak for themselves? Many will write a story, or a small note, some just put it up and let it speak for itself. It depends on what you want to share, and what you want your audience to see
52 is fun
At first it was a chore, but I now begin to think "What am I going to do when the new week rolls around.. I wanted to do the 395, but knew I could not stick to it for many factors. But now am contemplating a second 52 but I won't go that far.
Go to the group, look around, see what its all about.. then test the waters
http://flickr.com/groups/fiftytwo/