FRANKLIN—Jennifer Cuthbertson admits she’s not much of a photographer — just a mom who likes to take photos of her children.

Cuthbertson submitted the winning photo for The Tidewater News’ 2011 Calendar Contest, which received more than 400 entries.

A photo of Cuthbertson’s children, David, 2, and Emily, 10 months, sitting on a stack of watermelons in a trailer will appear on the cover of the 13-month calendar, which will be included in the Sunday, Oct. 31, issue of The Tidewater News. The photo was taken on her family’s Statesville farm, where thousands of watermelons are harvested annually and sold.

“I was so excited,” Cuthbertson said about winning the annual contest and receiving $250.

After the submission deadline passed, the staff of The Tidewater News went through all entries and chose the 13 best. Photos were chosen for quality and content.

“It (the decision) was hard,” said Mitzi Lusk, account executive for The Tidewater News. “We went through several processes of elimination.”

“I was glad we got as many entries as we did, considering we had a new system for uploading them,” added Ryan Outlaw, graphic designer for The Tidewater News who oversaw the calendar’s production.

Contestants could either submit their photos online through Tidewaternews.com, drop them off at the office on Armory Drive or mail them.

Other winning photos, which will appear in the calendar, were taken by Kimberly Belcher, Kim Billups, Earl Gunn, Kelli Gillette, Dee Dee Magette, DeAndre Hunt, Jamie Elliott, Cara Butler, Gavin Carter, Betty Bailey, Jack Norvell and Brandi Francis.