Hi Grizz,
Welcome to our forum, and Welcome to the society!
The 8SE will be a great lunar scope. The alt-az goto mount is very convenient and easy to operate. It packs a lot of telescope into a pretty small and light weight package, with the well know optical quality of the C8. The mount is not so well suited to deep sky long exposures but it’s much easier for the moon and planets, and for visual observing. Getting a good planetary image is more about being out there using the gear when the good nights come along, so the easier it is to use, the better your odd’s. No telescope will take good images in storage, and few nights you do get a big telescope out will probably not be the best nights. And the more you use it, the better you get, and the better your images become.