Hello from Texas

[Chandra]

You enter this world "through the front door", with top-level equipment, but, above all, what is more important, with great enthusiasm and a desire to learn... You will soon discover that you are always learning new things here, no matter if you are a beginner or a veteran, that is how vast this world of stargazing is. Dark skies are a great advantage for you, and even more so with your scope. Faint objects such as large nebulae or some galaxies require skies as dark as possible, especially if we aspire to distinguish details in their structures. 

On the question of the apparent magnitude and surface brightness of large objects, I think this article will be very informative for you: https://www.astronomy.com/observing/surface-brightness/. Regarding your first astrophotographic attempts with your smartphone, know that there is a whole forum dedicated to it here: https://stargazerslounge.com/forum/279-imaging-smartphone-tablets/ . To be honest, I never really got along with my cell phone holder... 

And finally, as for the alignment of your mount, as you say, it's always better to do it with three objects in the sky ("three-star alignment"). Bear in mind that AZ Goto mounts don't have the precision of EQ mounts, but they usually hit the target if we use eyepieces that allow a wide field of view. From my experience, to obtain a reasonable precision in searches and subsequent trackings, it's important to place your mount as flat as possible on the ground, you can use a bubble level or a digital one. 

Welcome!