Which Tool & Which Brush

I have a lovely image of a goose with another goose head rising from it's back. I've been trying to clone out this BG wart, but the results just don't look natural. I've tried several tools and brushes myself, but I'm not happy with the results. My research suggested that I should use the "clone stamp tool" because I can sample where I would like to take the good pixels. Is this the correct tool? I'm really confused as to which brush I should use, and I don't know a lot about the brushes anyway. I also tried the patch tool, but for some reason it does not completely cover the bad pixels. (I don't have transparency checked) It also does not work as I get closer to the subject gooses back. The patch tool tried to pick up pixels from the back of the subject goose.

I would appreciate any help from the PS experts in the audience. Thanks

Dottie, the cloning stamp tool is a very effective item to work with. Your research is correct about being able to sample an area and then stamp those pixels where you want to. Sort of a copy / paste or overlay approach if you will. To get the sample you want merely pick the tool from the Clone Tools, size the dimensions of the tool or brush as required, and then hold down the Alt key and click the mouse to pick the sample you want. Then move the stamp or brush over the area to cover and click the mouse to paste the sample over that area. It can be a bit more forgiving sometimes in OOF areas such as this area you are trying to remove in this scene. You did not mention what release of PS you're using. If you've got CS5 you can also use the Content Aware feature for a go at it too. Use the Lasso or Wand selection on the area to be removed and then use the Edit>Fill>Content Aware. At times you might need to work with a couple tools to get the overall look you might want. Hopefully these ideas will help. As always, it takes some experimentation to work through and learn how to deal with items like this. I would always use a new Layer to protect the integrity of the original image. That way if you don't like it you can delete the "cloned" layer and you're right back to where you started.

Here are some steps that work ...

*) Create an empty layer above the image
*) Chose the Clone Stamp Tool (Sample Setting set to "Current & Below" or "All Layers). Use a soft brush here.
*) Clone over the background goose without taking care of the foreground goose.
*) Create a mask for the clone layer and in there paint with black over the area of the foreground goose to remove the unwanted clone artifacts that might cover the foreground goose. For this use a harder brush.
*) If you go too far just switch the brush to white and paint where you want the clone layer to be visible again.

Here's an example of the cloned layer, the mask used and the final result.

Andreas method is excellent. There are always several we ays of doing the same thing in PS. If you do not want to use a mask, simply take the lasso tool and 0 feather and draw a loose circle around the high part of the second gooses head. Continue the circle along the gooses back following the feathers exactly( this will eliminate the blurred, fused problem) This will give you a selection with marching ants. Clone from outside the circle to the inside, working different areas to get a good blend.When it looks like you want do a cntl- D and the ants will dissapear. All this work should really be done on a background copy instead of the original layer....Get someone else to explain that process, Im tired of typing.
Joe Rogers