For my female photographer, I chose Imogen Cunningham. Talk about somebody who had her eyes open! From what I can determine after seeing the Ansel Adams biography, Imogen Cunningham was one of a handful of people who elevated photography to an art form.
Exposure Bracketing
Exposure bracketing is a fantastic way to make sure you get the shot by adjusting how much light is getting in with the exposure value or the compensation setting. I am in the habit of doing this not only with the camera itself and its settings, but also by choosing how much sky or light source is going to be in the shot (by where I point the camera). In this way, even with a cell phone camera you can get better shots. These were taken with a Nikon D3100 and have not been enhanced. A habit that I need to get into is writing down what aperture settings etc. that I am using.