backgrounds
 

I would like to use my own photographs as backgrounds how do I do it

What distro?
What desktop?
What research have you done?
Please review the Welcome to LQ lin in my sig.

The short version is to edit them to your liking, put them in a directory, then point your background setter at that directory.

A more detailed answer depends on your answer to the questions scasey posed above.

All of the desktop environments I can remember using have an option for adding additional photos/graphics to be used as backgrounds. Selecting that option gives you a "Browse" dialog/menu that let's you navigate through your filesystem(s) to select photos for backgrounds. For more detailed instructions, you'll need to indicate which desktop you're using. (But I'm betting that this'll be enough to get you started.)

HTH...