Desde la torre de la catedral, mi madre hizo fotos del río y de los tejados.

Desde means from or starting from. Here it shows the point of view or location from which the photos were taken:

Desde la torre de la catedral = From the cathedral tower

In this sentence, desde is not about movement away from a place. It is about the place where someone was positioned when doing something.

Spanish normally uses de to link two nouns when one specifies the other.

So:

• la torre de la catedral = the tower of the cathedral
• more naturally in English: the cathedral tower

Spanish usually does not stack nouns together the way English does. English can say cathedral tower, but Spanish generally prefers torre de la catedral.

The phrase Desde la torre de la catedral is an introductory phrase. The comma helps separate that setting from the main part of the sentence:

• Desde la torre de la catedral, = setting/location
• mi madre hizo fotos... = main action

In Spanish, this comma is very natural and helps readability. It is especially common when the introductory phrase is a bit long.

Yes, hacer usually means to do or to make, but in Spain very common everyday Spanish uses:

• hacer una foto
• hacer fotos

These mean to take a photo / to take photos.

So mi madre hizo fotos means my mother took photos.

This is idiomatic. You should learn it as a set expression.

In other varieties of Spanish, you may also hear:

• sacar fotos
• sometimes tomar fotos

But hacer fotos is very common in Spain.

Hizo is the preterite form of hacer.

• infinitive: hacer
• preterite, 3rd person singular: hizo

So:

• mi madre hizo fotos = my mother took photos

The preterite is used because this is a completed action in the past.

A quick comparison:

• hacía fotos = she was taking photos / she used to take photos
• hizo fotos = she took photos

Also note that hacer is irregular in the preterite:

• yo hice
• tú hiciste
• él/ella hizo
• nosotros hicimos
• vosotros hicisteis
• ellos hicieron

Spanish often leaves out the indefinite article with plural nouns when English would use some or nothing at all.

So:

• hizo fotos = took photos
• hizo unas fotos = took some photos

Both are possible, but the version without unas is very natural and neutral.

Using unas can sometimes make the photos feel a bit more specific or more noticeable, but here the simple bare plural fotos works perfectly well.

Because after foto or fotos, Spanish commonly uses de for what the photo shows:

• una foto del río = a photo of the river
• fotos de los tejados = photos of the rooftops

So:

• hizo fotos del río y de los tejados = she took photos of the river and the rooftops

This de is the normal way to express of after foto.

Del is the contraction of:

• de + el = del

So:

• del río = de el río → contracted to del río

This contraction is required in standard Spanish whenever de is followed by el, except when el is part of a proper name, such as El Escorial.

Examples:

• vengo del parque = I come from the park
• una foto del río = a photo of the river

Because both nouns depend on fotos de...:

• fotos del río
• fotos de los tejados

Spanish often repeats the preposition before the second item in a list, especially when the form changes:

• del río
• de los tejados

Since del already includes el, it cannot also cover los tejados. So you need a second de.

That is why del río y de los tejados is the natural form here.

In Spain, tejado usually means the roof on the outside of a building, especially the visible rooftop.

Techo more often means ceiling indoors, though it can sometimes mean roof in broader contexts.

So if someone is up in a tower looking out over the city, los tejados is exactly the right word for the rooftops you can see.

This is a very useful distinction:

• tejado = roof / rooftop
• techo = ceiling

The accent mark in río shows that the i and o are pronounced in separate syllables:

• rí-o

Without the accent, Spanish spelling rules would suggest a diphthong, making it sound more like one syllable group. The accent forces a hiatus.

So:

• río = river
• pronounced roughly as REE-oh

This is a common pattern with a weak vowel (i, u) that needs stress.

Spanish uses definite articles very naturally, often more than English does.

Here they all refer to things understood as specific or identifiable in the scene:

• la torre = the tower
• la catedral = the cathedral
• el río = the river
• los tejados = the rooftops

In English, you might sometimes make things sound more general or leave things out in certain contexts, but Spanish often keeps the article.

Also, with visible landscape elements like el río and los tejados, the definite article sounds very natural because they are the concrete things being photographed.

Yes. That sentence is also grammatical.

Compare the two:

• Desde la torre de la catedral, mi madre hizo fotos del río y de los tejados.
• Mi madre hizo fotos del río y de los tejados desde la torre de la catedral.

The difference is mainly emphasis.

Starting with Desde la torre de la catedral puts the location first and sets the scene immediately. That is often a very natural storytelling choice.

Putting it at the end keeps the main subject and action first.

It literally means my mother, but in many contexts it can correspond naturally to my mum in English, depending on tone.

Spanish madre is the normal word, and whether you translate it as mother or mum depends on the style of English you want.

So in a neutral translation:

• mi madre = my mother

In a more everyday British-style translation:

• mi madre = my mum

Yes, generally speaking, hacer fotos is very natural in Spain.

You may hear:

• hacer fotos in Spain very commonly
• tomar fotos more often in many parts of Latin America
• sacar fotos in some regions as well

So if you are learning Spanish from Spain, hizo fotos is a very good phrase to know and use.