Wand selecting inside a layer mask - How?

Embarrassed to say I have forgotten how to do this. Call it wind on the brain.

-- I've added a layer mask (that black & white mask) on the same layer as my photo.

With a brush having some softness, I drew an outline (lets say a weird shaped, closed circle), and I want to select in the mask the area inside the circle in order to expand half the width of the brush so I can do a fill where it goes in too the first pixel on the fehtered line, nor ruin the soft edge of the line on the outside of the circle, so it keeps its nice edge.

The problem I'm having is that even though I have the mask selected in the layers palette, when I apply the wand tool in the image, it's selecting based on the photo, not on the mask.

Hope that's clear.

Thanks.

That should read 'feathered' line, not 'fehtered' line.

Yeah, I used to be able to make a selection, expand it and fill it with black. It's not working now though.

Alt-click on the mask to show it, then make your selection.

EDIT: Option-click I mean. Forgot I was on the Mac Forum.

Option + Click doesn't work, I'm afraid.

Is there something I'm not doing? I select the wand, select the mask and Option + Click on the area of the mask in the photo.

And all that gets selected is the part that would be as if I had selected the photo at a particular tolerance - as opposed to selecting a wide, solid area of the mask.

Thanks.

Not really sure what you're asking. As Ed suggested, if you want to make a selection of the layer mask, command-click on the layer mask icon in the layers palette.

Option-click on the mask so you see the mask and not the image. Are you saying that does nothing? Alternatively you could click on it in the Channels palette, but that's the same thing.

When you see the black and white mask you can use the Magic Wand on it.

Opt+click on the mask icon in the layers palette, then use magic wand tool to select areas. Or cmd+click on the mask icon to select the whole mask.

Okay. Got it. Infinite thanks all.

I discovered that by going into channels and hiding all but the mask layer I can do all that I wanted -- which Opt-Clicking in the mask icon in the layers palette does.

My mistake was trying to use the wand BEFORE I got into the solitary channel. . . and that was my hang-up.

I had best not forget this again. Far too much work for all concerned.