A Google search for “web page backgrounds” turns up a bunch of sites that appear to date back to the 1990’s, distributing background tiles suitable for that decade (but not this one).
Stock photography sites either don’t carry specific categories of seamless tiling images or I can’t find them if they do.
For instance, I am currently looking for a nice, large, subtle wood panel pattern to use in a design, but all the wood patterns I can find fit into the above categories…
I don’t want to spend a couple hours setting up a photo shoot and tiling the results myself, only to decide wood panel wasn’t what my design needed.
Where do you get background images and textures?
I definitely make my own, just to be sure that it’s not something that someone else has used elsewhere. I’ve been in the graphic/web design business for over 15 years now and I’ve built up quite a large archive that I can pull from when needed. It comes in handy!
I use royalty free images from iStockPhoto, I use creative commons images and I build my own… depending on the situation 
Istockphoto.com and sometimes I make them myself as well.
I build everything myself.
Here’s one site that you might like, though: http://www.texturevault.net/
Thanks - that looks pretty cool!
I create everything from scratch. I have a library of images that I built over time, photos I take, closeups, I play around and develop textures and many variations, I scan things in and play with them, I sketch stuff and paint things.
Now look what you did - I’m going to be looking at every image as I see as a potential background component!
Yes, and so it should be 
It becomes a habit once you start, it is fun and adds up over time
I create everything from scratch. I have a library of images that I built over time, photos I take, closeups, I play around and develop textures and many variations, I scan things in and play with them, I sketch stuff and paint things.
It is all original and mine. I highly recommend this approach, it takes time, but so what? Make it part of your life.