I agree Herb, i think it looks better lower. It seems little bit more stable and the proportions look better. Bamboo looks great too!

-christian

Christian - Thanks - now I'm persuaded that when I cast the next one I'll cast it with a shorter pillar - the pillar of this one broke at the lightbox because I hadn't taken into account that it was a hypertufa mix & I didn't let it cure long enough. And of course this'll make the whole thing even lighter....
Herb

Into the fray go I...
I like it taller because the triangle formed by the tall rock and the lantern is more pleasing to my eye. The shorter placement creates an almost flat line across the area (rock to lantern top). The taller one creates a certain movement across the scene rather than having the bed flanked by two columns.
Just my opinion. :-)
Dave

Dave,

You've made me get a ruler and measure the above-ground heights of each - there's about a 3-inch difference.

I tried raising it about an inch and a half, but it's bright sunny day, so the picture I took doesn't give a fair comparison. But it's led me to another possibility - either raising the big rock further out of the ground, or sinking it in a bit deeper...... but that'd better to wait till my hernias have been fixed if (this being Canada) they ever are.

Herb

I know what you mean. No, I really know what you mean! I've had some rocks awaiting their placement for a year now. I'm almost tempted to decorate around them, except they're sitting on the patio, near the entrance to the garden. My son claims we can move 'em together. Funny, he never seems to get some time off.
Dave

I know I'm late but when I look at the picture of the tall lantern that's all I see. It's like being in a room with the walls painted red, all you see is the walls.

When I look at The picture with the shorter lantern I see a scene.
Paul

Paul -

The majority (which I think includes me) now seems to be for the shorter one - except that I'm now trying it out for a while with no lantern there at all - see the picture link below.

The bamboo's growing very fast & I'm hoping that by this time next year there'll be several more tall culms so that it can be thinned out near the ground. Then it'll be interesting to try the lantern there again to see how it looks. Maybe - just maybe - the moss that I'm trying to encourage will show up more too. Herb

Click for the picture