Interesting and creepy experience.
I cover up most of the time, but sometimes my half sleeves show. I’ve only had two photo requests, and they were quite different. One, a young woman just came up to me at a street arts fair and rather abruptly said “Can I take a picture of your tats?” First of all the word “tats” turned me off immediately, and secondly she already had her phone out like it was a foregone conclusion that I would say yes. I just politely said no, I’d prefer not to have my picture taken. She seemed rather miffed.
The other time, a woman approached me politely after a workout at the gym, asked about my sleeves, and was quite nice and respectful. She asked intelligent, and I think sincere questions, and I answered them to the best of my ability. It was very comfortable, and I voluntarily pulled up my sleeves to show her the extent. At the end, she asked me if she could take a picture. She was very polite, and almost apologetic, and I said yes.
So for me, it was all about context and feel. I’m pretty private, and this has only happened twice, but I’m more likely to say yes if I judge that the person is sincerely interested, and not just collecting pictures. I’m that way when people ask me about my tattoos. I love to talk about my tattoos if a person is sincerely interested and not creepy.