Am I obligated to ask about an action if I don't know the extent of its permissibility or impermissibility?

It is not permissible for a mukallaf (accountable person) to undertake an action until he knows Allah’s ruling concerning it. He must ask scholars and emulate them. Learning the shar’i sciences is not an individual obligation (fard ‘ayn) except for what is indispensable for correcting one’s creed, purification, prayer, fasting, and similar matters. You are not obligated to ask about the ruling on something you see others doing unless you intend to perform that action yourself. Asking about rulings you are ignorant of remains subsumed under the general learning of shar’i sciences, which is a communal obligation (fard kifayah).