For certain projects, you may want to use a texture. You have two options: buy one or create your own. When you buy, you take a chance that someone else has used it one of their projects. To ensure that your project is unique and interesting, you can photograph your own textures. Vandelay Design explains How to Photograph Your Own Textures.
After reading this article, I was inspired to take photos to use as textures. I used my Android Phone and Canon PowerShot to take the photos. I used the suggestions by Vandelay Design to experiment with photographing textures. Here are a few results from my experiment: