How to count pixels of a specific color

I was recently asked how can I count the number of pixels of a specific color in a photograph.  I found this to be a little tricky but doable.

• The solution is to zoom into the area of the color you want to select. 
• Use the Magic Wand tool and set the tolerance to 1.
• Select Similar
• Open the Histogram panel

Here you will see the information about the total number of pixels that have been selected. In this case there are 781.

Need a little more help? Here is my video on how I did this.
Enjoy!

http://screencast.com/t/ZwvrurauX6v

Photoshop - Vibrance vs. Saturation

 
Let's take a look at the difference between vibrance and saturation using one of my favorite photographs of my adopted son all ready for prom.
Both tools are made to add more color to a photograph which can really make it pop. Unless of course you overdo and suddenly the photograph doesn't even look real any more.
The main difference between vibrance and saturation is that vibrance works to AVOID skin tones which are typically yellow and orange.
See how vibrance added more blue and green but didn't blow out the skin tones? Vibrance is usually the safest bet but when it comes to adding color to a photograph when you have people in it.
In photographs with people or a lot of yellow, you'll want to use vibrance to keep the skin tones looking natural and keep the yellow in check.

Here is another one of my examples about vibrance.
http://leonaruth.blogspot.com/2011/06/photoshop-magic-of-vibrance.html

Adobe's new cloud-based photo sharing site - Revel

Adobe has recently announced it's newcloud-based application Revel. It lets users upload photos from their devices and then syncs the images across all other devices. Revel is a free download for your It comes with editing features worthy of the Adobe brand, and pre-set filters to create effects, as well as some of the editing tools you’d find in full-fledged photo editing software.
However, Revel only works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac and I'm an Android user.  With no plans on the table for Android users Adobe offers "Revel Importer" which will let me import photos into my Revel library.

I decided to sign up for Revel and received the following email message from Adobe.

For the next 30 days you can import as many photos as you want — so start importing all your photos right away!
After that, you’ll be able to import up to 50 photos every month.
If you take a lot of photos, you can buy a Revel Premium subscription as an in-app purchase and import as many photos as you want every month!

So, is Revel worth the $5.99 per month? I think that serious photographers will want to upload more than 50 photos a month.

I'm not convinced yet when there are other free sites where I can share my photos.  Especially since there is no full version for my Android. However, I will be watching Revel closely to see what new innovations appear as this new cloud sharing site develops. I believe it is something we might want to keep an eye on.

Check out Revel at http://www.adobe.com/products/revel.html

Other top photo sharing sites
http://www.pcworld.com/article/246129/best_bets_for_photo_sharing_sites.html