When the mount/scope is in the home position the Right Ascension axis points at the North Celestial Pole and the Declination axis points toward the Celestial Equator at the Zenith. The Camera/Scope is pointing at the NCP.
Loosening the Dec. clutch lets you sweep around the sky from the north pole to the equator and south pole(which is in the ground).
Loosening the RA clutch lets you sweep up and down the sky from East to Zenith to West.
This is not the right way to think about RA and Dec.
Astrophotography Newbie 