Blurring an object in the foreground of a photo - "Clone away?"

[AlSimmons]

Great tutorials! Thanks to all for such a great resource! 

In the tutorial named "Blurring an object in the foreground of a photo," in step #3, it says to "clone away the edge of the rock." I'm a noob, so I don't know what "clone AWAY" means. I know how to use the clone tool to clone an area of a picture from one area to another, etc., but what does it mean when you clone something AWAY?

Again, I apologize for what I'm sure is a total noob question, but like I said... that's what I am.

Thanks!

[Damien Symonds]

Hi @AlSimmons, thanks for your kind words.

I realise that it's not super-easy to see what I've done in that particular part of the tutorial.

Here, I've assembled the before-and-after into a gif.  Does this make it a bit easier for you to see?

[AlSimmons]

Awesome. I can totally see the effect of what's happened, but what I don't understand is what you mean when you say "clone away."

I would have thought you would have said ERASE. Meaning, it looks like you trimmed away a large section of the "clone" image with the eraser tool (i.e., the part of the picture above the rocks). What's confusing me is that you're using clone as a verb, which makes me think you're cloning something. Again, I apologize if I'm coming off like a total idiot. I'm really trying to understand. Ha!  

[Damien Symonds]

If I'd erased, there would just be white space there.

So yes, I have to clone nearby detail onto those areas.

Have you used the Clone Tool very much before?

[AlSimmons]

HAHAHA! It all just clicked!! I understand now. I feel like a dope. 

For some reason it was eluding me. You cloned from [the water and sand] ONTO [the rocks] in order to effectively remove a small border within the section of the photo that is rocks. Right?

For some reason, I'd never thought of that as "cloning something away," but now that makes perfect sense. If that's a term within the world of PS, then I hadn't heard it before. (Again... noob.) But now that I understand, I'm not sure of a better way to describe it.  

Thanks for your patience! And thanks for this tutorial! It was exactly what I was looking for.  👍🏻

 

[Damien Symonds]

Just now, AlSimmons said:

For some reason it was eluding me. You cloned from [the water and sand] ONTO [the rocks] in order to effectively remove a small border within the section of the photo that is rocks. Right?

Right.