Getting the “after” shot right
by Ben, co-founder
An after shot is only as good as how well it matches the before. Eight weeks of patience deserves better than a mismatched pair, so here's how to nail it.
The matching close-up
- Watch your day-one clip first, right before filming. Copy it deliberately - same spot in the house, same angle, same distance, same body part.
- Same light matters most. If day one was by the kitchen window in the morning, go back to the kitchen window in the morning.
- Hold it for fifteen seconds. You'll be tempted to grab three seconds and celebrate. Don't.
The happy shot
Then film the shot that has nothing to do with skin: your dog being properly happy. Zoomies in the garden, the full-body tail wag, the roll in the grass. You can't stage it, so keep your phone in your pocket for a day or two and stay ready.
And film the quiet wins, because they're the real ones: a dog asleep at 2am instead of scratching, a walk with no paw-chewing stops, a calm belly after dinner. Nobody thinks to film the absence of a problem, and it's the most persuasive footage there is.
Technical bits, quickly
- Daylight, wiped lens, landscape and portrait versions.
- Walk closer rather than zooming. Digital zoom turns dogs to soup.
- Watch the day-one clip and the after clip back to back. If you want a proper side-by-side, your phone's gallery editor can do it - but back to back already tells the story.
That's the whole assignment: one honest matching close-up, one burst of joy. Eight weeks is impossible to see day by day - this is where you get to see it all at once.
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