Method to turn off iCloud coverage *without* destroying data?
I'm getting near my limit of iCloud's max 5G. I'd like to clean up. We have two iPads. We've also been using iTunes to sync, e.g., photos. Photos take up the brunt of our iCloud storage, as you might imagine: 3.4G for the Camera Roll, edited pix. I know that iCloud threatens to "destroy" *items on the involved device* when iCloud backup of a select item is turned off. I don't know whether this is also true when the backup is destroyed...
It seems unreasonable to me that iCloud should destroy data on the involved device, but I guess that's a "feature", not a bug. Right?
Is there a way to either, destroy the backup, or, turn off iCloud backup of, an item, without having iCloud destroy data on the involved device? Is my only hope, to export data out of the target app, disentangle iCloud, then re-import data? (Seems rude, crude, and obscene.)