La fotógrafa hizo una foto del castillo desde el mirador.

Because fotógrafa is the feminine form of fotógrafo. Spanish nouns for professions often change ending to match the person’s gender:

• el fotógrafo = the male photographer
• la fotógrafa = the female photographer

The article also changes to match:

• la with feminine singular nouns
• el with masculine singular nouns

So La fotógrafa means the subject is a woman.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes: fo-TÓ-gra-fa.

Without the accent, Spanish stress rules would make you expect a different pronunciation. The written accent tells you clearly that the stressed syllable is tó.

Good question—foto is one of the common exceptions learners notice early.

Foto is a shortened form of fotografía, which is feminine. Because the full word is feminine, the short form stays feminine too:

• la fotografía
• la foto

So:

• una foto = correct
• un foto = incorrect

Literally, yes, hacer means to make/do, so hizo una foto looks like made a photo.

But in Spanish, especially in Spain, hacer una foto is a natural way to say take a photo. It is idiomatic. English and Spanish simply use different verbs here.

In Spain, these are common:

• hacer una foto
• sacar una foto / sacar una fotografía

In other varieties of Spanish, especially in Latin America, tomar una foto is also very common.

So even though the verb is hacer, the meaning is to take a photo.

Because hacer is irregular in the preterite.

The preterite of hacer is:

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

So hizo is the correct he/she did / made / took form.

Hizo is the preterite, which is typically used for a completed action in the past.

This sentence presents the photo-taking as a finished event:

• The photographer took the photo.
• The action is complete.

If you used the imperfect instead, it would suggest background, repetition, or an ongoing situation, which would change the feel of the sentence.

Del is the contraction of de + el.

• de = of / from
• el = the
• de el becomes del

So:

• del castillo = of the castle

This contraction is mandatory in standard Spanish whenever de is followed by el (except with some proper names, like de El Escorial).

Because Spanish often uses the definite article where English may or may not.

Here, del castillo means of the castle—not just any castle, but a specific one understood from the context.

So:

• una foto del castillo = a photo of the castle

If you removed el, the phrase would sound incomplete or unnatural in normal Spanish.

It tells you what the photo is of.

The basic structure is:

• La fotógrafa = subject
• hizo = verb
• una foto = direct object
• del castillo = complement describing the photo
• desde el mirador = where the photo was taken from

So del castillo is not the direct object of hizo. The direct object is una foto.
The phrase del castillo modifies foto: it tells you the subject matter of the photo.

Because desde emphasizes the point of origin or vantage point: the place from which the photo was taken.

• desde el mirador = from the viewpoint/lookout
• en el mirador = at the viewpoint

Both can sometimes make sense, but they are not exactly the same.

Here, desde is the better choice because the sentence focuses on the viewing position used to take the photo.

A mirador is a viewpoint, lookout point, or scenic overlook—a place you go to look out over a landscape or landmark.

In this sentence, it means the photographer was at a viewing spot and took the photo from there.

No, this is very normal Spanish word order.

The sentence follows a standard pattern:

• La fotógrafa = subject
• hizo = verb
• una foto del castillo = object + description
• desde el mirador = adverbial phrase of place/origin

Spanish does allow more flexibility than English, but this version is neutral and natural.

Yes. Spanish allows some reordering for emphasis. For example:

• Desde el mirador, la fotógrafa hizo una foto del castillo.
• La fotógrafa, desde el mirador, hizo una foto del castillo.

These are still grammatical, but the original version is the most straightforward and neutral.

Yes.

• una foto = shorter, very common, everyday
• una fotografía = more formal or slightly more explicit

So you could also say:

La fotógrafa hizo una fotografía del castillo desde el mirador.

The meaning stays the same, but foto sounds more natural in casual speech.

Yes. The phrase hacer una foto sounds especially natural in Spain.

A learner may also hear:

• sacar una foto
• tomar una foto

But if you are focusing on Spanish from Spain, hacer una foto is absolutely a useful and natural pattern to learn.