The number of wedding photographers on O'ahu has jumped in the past year, giving established shooters increased competition and brides more — sometimes confusing — options.

Gina Finkelstein, a former model, moved from New York after Sept. 11, set up her own photography business out of her Kapolei home and is now constantly surprised by the number of new people shooting weddings.

"It's going so crazy that you would think that everybody's making a million bucks," Finkelstein said. "It's just much more competitive now. It seems like every other person's a wedding photographer now. Everybody's just pouring into the business."

Wedding planners and photographers estimate there are now about 200 people advertising their services as wedding photographers. Brad Buckles, who puts on two Hawai'i Bridal Expos each year, believes that O'ahu is home to 300 to 400 photographers "and maybe 70 of them were shooting weddings two years ago. Now they're all shooting weddings."

Between 2000 and 2004, the number of marriage licenses in Hawai'i jumped from 25,375 to 28,843, according to the state Department of Health. At the same time, the number of marriage licenses issued on O'ahu increased from 10,844 to 12,247.

The increasing number of photographers appears to be driven by Hawai'i's year-round wedding business, declining commercial jobs, advances in digital technology and the decreasing price of basic digital cameras.

"The entry-level cost for wedding photography has dropped considerably," Buckles said. "People are working out of their home, working out of their car, using just a laptop and a mobile phone."

With more photographers hoping to generate customers, Buckles has to be more discriminating about which ones he lets into his expos.

"I have caught people who just got married themselves and are looking to make a little extra money," Buckles said. "They run down to Costco's and buy a digital camera and think they're in the business. We call it the Friends and Family Plan: 'I've shot photos for friends and family and now I want to do it for real.' "

For brides, Buckles said, "it creates a real shopper's paradise."

But asking good questions about photographers' experience level and reviewing their portfolios online and in person will quickly separate skilled, established photographers from beginners, said Susan O'Donnell, the owner of Aloha Wedding Planners.

Established, high-end photographers often charge $6,000 to $10,000 per job, which generally includes two photographers, hundreds of images and a wide range of digital and print album options.

Others, often beginners trying to establish a name for themselves, sometimes try to cut costs by cutting out services.

"When you have so many service providers, the bride has to be able to compare apples to apples as opposed to apples to oranges," O'Donnell said. "If somebody's selling a $99 wedding, that's what you're going to get — a $99 wedding."

Carrie Gulick, 29, and her fiance, Chuck Hastings, 27, flew to O'ahu last week from their home in Brentwood, Calif., in part, to interview photographers for their wedding in October 2006 at Central Union Church, with the reception afterward at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

"The photographer was one of the main things we wanted to take care of," Gulick said. "We heard they book up fast."

After reviewing portfolios online and getting recommendations, Gulick and Hastings met with four photographers who quoted estimates from $3,000 to $7,000.

"They ranged from a sort of a trendy, big city style — more New York-ish cosmopolitan," Gulick said. "Some were a lot more local, Hawaiian style in terms of different details. Some focused on the invitation, the rings, to kind of showcase their own style. Others really wanted to focus on the people. I was really impressed. There really weren't many that were bad quality."

Gulick and Hastings hope to choose a photographer this week and believe their selection will come down to how they clicked with the photographers.

"How our personalities meshed was a big thing, just feeling comfortable with the photographer," Gulick said. "For us, sense of humor is a great thing and wanting to be able to capture the candid moment. We don't want anything too stuffy, nothing too formal."

Kristen Florin and her husband of 19 months, Steven Florin, started their photography business in January and will meet clients in their home on the North Shore, in a park or at a Starbucks.

"It's not only the style of photography," Kristen said. "We're going to be with them all day long so they have to be comfortable with us. We kind of need to spend a little bit of time together."

Tamalyn Lee always wanted to be a photographer but instead studied accounting on her father's advice.

While she worked as an accountant, Lee began shooting family gatherings, keiki lu'au and other events on the side. Then Sept. 11 hit and her father, Joon Chi, found himself inside the World Trade Center.

"Sept. 11 started it," Lee said. "I didn't want to do what I was doing anymore when life is so short."

So Lee gave up her job in the controller's office of the Sheraton Waikiki and set up her business from $20,000 in savings that she and her husband, Christian, had been planning as a down payment on a house.

Christian Lee, an Army captain, has since been assigned to Alabama, where he flies helicopters. So Tamalyn Lee books only Hawai'i weddings that start at $6,000.

"I accept only high-end weddings because I'm about 10 hours flight time from Hawai'i," she said.

This year, Lee expects to shoot about 40 weddings in the Islands. And unlike some other photographers, she welcomes the increased competition.

"The more photographers out there, the more we can encourage each other," Lee said. "We don't need to look at it as a dog-eat-dog world. There are a lot of weddings out there — more than enough for every photographer."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.