MUMBAI: UK pubcaster BBC News' website has launched its BBC News Photographer of the Year 2006 competition today.

Love, Shelter and Rock 'n' Roll are among the themes set to inspire budding, amateur and professional photographers in this year's competition with the winning entry to be voted for by BBC News website readers.

The overall winner will be given the title of BBC News Photographer of the Year and the chance to shoot a photo-based story of their choice to go on display on the BBC News website. There will also be a separate prize given to the photograph that most catches the eye of the BBC News website team.

BBC News Website Picture Editor Phil Coomes said, "Our readers love to look at pictures and this is a chance to see their own work featured on the BBC News website. Last year we had over 12,000 entries, many of which were really strong and made the selection of 12 pictures for each round really tough. The trick is to work around the subject, don't just go for the obvious and really push your photographic skills."

The closing dates for entries are:

Shelter (2 August 2006)

Rock 'n' Roll (9 August 2006)

Uniform (16 August 2006)

Technology (23 August 2006)

Love (30 August 2006)

Look up (6 September 2006)

Following the closing date for each theme, the 12 best pictures will be selected by the BBC News picture desk and displayed in a picture gallery on the site.

BBC News Website readers will then be asked to vote for their favourites. The two photos that get the most votes will go forward to the final when readers will decide who is awarded the title of BBC News Photographer of the Year.

To enter the 2006 competition, snappers should send their pictures to the BBC at: yourpics@bbc.co.uk. Competition details can be found at www.bbc.co.uk/inpictures.

Entrants need to put 'Photographer of the Year' plus their chosen theme in the subject heading of their email, as well as including their name and some background information on what their image is about. Submissions must be in digital form; ideally Jpeg files with a height or width of around 800 pixels.

Specific questions about the competition can be addressed to the BBC picture editor at the yourpics@bbc.co.uk email address.

The BBC News Website receives around 900 million page impressions every month, and has over 30 million unique users a month.