Question about photography in Greece
 

I've never been to Greece so forgive the ignorance of this question. I have been told that there is no flash photography in museums etc. and no photography at all inside religious locations like Meteora. ANd that you are not to take pictures where someone is posing with statues etc. My question is how will I know - do they post signs/warnings? Does anyone know if I would be allowed to bring a walking stick/monopod to stabilize my camera when taking pictures in museums or do they prohibit packs etc as well. Also, what is the lighting like in the museums for taking pics? Thanks for any help/tips anyone has.

We spent 2 weeks in Greece in early May. Flash photography is not permitted in every museum we went to (and we hit around 10 of them). There are signs at the entrance with pictures showing that flash is not permitted. Posing for photos with the statues is also not permitted in all of the museums we visited. We heard the museum employees explaining it as a policy of respect for the ancient peoples who crafted images of their deities.
The lighting in most of the museums is excellent - a combination of articial and natural light. All of our pictures turned out quite well.
Backpacks were not allowed in the National Archaeology Museum or the Acropolis Museum (there was a free check counter), but we did bring our small backpack into many of the other museums. I did not see anyone using a tripod or walking stick so I'm not sure if that is allowed.

When in doubt, try your flash. If someone doesn't bite your head off you're good to go. Just look for the 'no flash' symbol-signs first.

I returned Monday from a wonderful month long trip to Greece (Crete, Santorini, Naxos, Athens).

Brotherleelove2004 offers great advice, but not this time. If in doubt, please ask if using your flash is okay. In every museum, or at every archaeological site there is plenty of personnel who will answer this question (and to the one, "Is it okay if I jump over the rope to get a better picture?").

JQ

Well, I was being facetious, at least partially. There will more than likely be signs posted if flash photography is prohibited. As JQReports suggests, ask first and avoid any problem.

hennesda, I found someone's Greece gallery on Pbase. This person took photos in a museum (I assume it's the National Archeology Museum?) with a Canon Digital Elph. For the photos he lists all settings except the ISO, but these should give you an idea of the lighting in there.
http://tinyurl.com/ep7jt

I don't know what kind of equipment you are using, but it looks to me like you'll be fine with no camera support if you use your widest apertures at high film speeds.

If you have a digital camera with adjustable ISO settings, change it to a higher setting before going into the museum. If your shuttter speed is still too slow, you might be able to steady yourself on a solid object to reduce lens shake.

Also check to see if there is a white balance setting on your camera. With many digital cameras the "Auto" setting will be fine, but if not, you may be able to change it to "florescent" or "tungsten", depending on the type of lighting in the museum.

On a side note hennesda, I would try to bring a polarized lens in the future - the sun outside is so bright it will wash your pictures out. I really wish I had though of that when I bought my camera.

Cheers,

Murphy

Excellent suggestion from murphy. The sun really is super bright. A lot of our pictures are pretty washed out.