diff --git a/lib/wraith/javascript/_phantom__common.js b/lib/wraith/javascript/_phantom__common.js
index 6dc6299b..a63a171b 100644
--- a/lib/wraith/javascript/_phantom__common.js
+++ b/lib/wraith/javascript/_phantom__common.js
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ module.exports = function (config) {
       // see https://github.com/n1k0/casperjs/issues/1068
       setTimeout(function(){
         phantom.exit();
-      }, 10);
+      }, 30);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/wraith/javascript/casper.js b/lib/wraith/javascript/casper.js
index cdafb7ca..c6dfa2ca 100644
--- a/lib/wraith/javascript/casper.js
+++ b/lib/wraith/javascript/casper.js
@@ -58,12 +58,12 @@ casper.open(url);
 casper.viewport(currentDimensions.viewportWidth, currentDimensions.viewportHeight);
 casper.then(function() {
   if (globalBeforeCaptureJS) {
-    require('./' + globalBeforeCaptureJS)(this);
+    require(globalBeforeCaptureJS)(this);
   }
 });
 casper.then(function() {
   if (pathBeforeCaptureJS) {
-    require('./' + pathBeforeCaptureJS)(this);
+    require(pathBeforeCaptureJS)(this);
   }
 });
 // waits for all images to download before taking screenshots
diff --git a/lib/wraith/save_images.rb b/lib/wraith/save_images.rb
index 687c18ff..5ff7a4c8 100644
--- a/lib/wraith/save_images.rb
+++ b/lib/wraith/save_images.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 require "wraith"
 require "parallel"
 require "shellwords"
+require "wraith/utilities"
 
 class Wraith::SaveImages
   attr_reader :wraith, :history, :meta
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ def selector
   end
 
   def before_capture
-    options["before_capture"] || "false"
+    @options["before_capture"] ? convert_to_absolute(@options["before_capture"]) : "false"
   end
 
   def base_url
diff --git a/lib/wraith/utilities.rb b/lib/wraith/utilities.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ffccd3a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/wraith/utilities.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+# @TODO - extract more shared functions to this file
+
+def convert_to_absolute(filepath)
+  if filepath[0] == '/'
+    # filepath is already absolute. return unchanged
+    filepath
+  else
+    # filepath is relative. it must be converted to absolute
+    working_dir = `pwd`.chomp
+    "#{working_dir}/#{filepath}"
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/wraith/version.rb b/lib/wraith/version.rb
index 9453a56e..653c02bc 100644
--- a/lib/wraith/version.rb
+++ b/lib/wraith/version.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 module Wraith
-  VERSION = "2.8.1"
+  VERSION = "3.0.1"
 end
diff --git a/lib/wraith/wraith.rb b/lib/wraith/wraith.rb
index d85bc67b..d792ef15 100644
--- a/lib/wraith/wraith.rb
+++ b/lib/wraith/wraith.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 require "yaml"
+require "wraith/utilities"
 
 class Wraith::Wraith
   attr_accessor :config
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ def engine
   end
 
   def snap_file
-    @config["snap_file"] || snap_file_from_engine(engine)
+    @config["snap_file"] ? convert_to_absolute(@config["snap_file"]) : snap_file_from_engine(engine)
   end
 
   def snap_file_from_engine(engine)
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ def snap_file_from_engine(engine)
   end
 
   def before_capture
-    @config["before_capture"] || "false"
+    @config["before_capture"] ? convert_to_absolute(@config["before_capture"]) : "false"
   end
 
   def widths
diff --git a/spec/before_capture_spec.rb b/spec/before_capture_spec.rb
index 1aca6856..c861bfed 100644
--- a/spec/before_capture_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/before_capture_spec.rb
@@ -11,6 +11,29 @@
   let(:before_suite_js) { "spec/js/global.js" }
   let(:before_capture_js) { "spec/js/path.js" }
 
+  describe "different ways of determining the before_capture file" do
+    it "should allow users to specify the relative path to the before_capture file" do
+      config = YAML.load '
+        browser:        casperjs
+        before_capture: javascript/do_something.js
+      '
+      wraith = Wraith::Wraith.new(config, true)
+      # not sure about having code IN the test, but we want to get this right.
+      expect(wraith.before_capture).to eq (`pwd`.chomp! + '/javascript/do_something.js')
+    end
+
+    it "should allow users to specify the absolute path to the before_capture file" do
+      config = YAML.load '
+        browser:        casperjs
+        before_capture: /Users/some_user/wraith/javascript/do_something.js
+      '
+      wraith = Wraith::Wraith.new(config, true)
+      expect(wraith.before_capture).to eq ('/Users/some_user/wraith/javascript/do_something.js')
+    end
+  end
+
+  # @TODO - we need tests determining the path to "path-level before_capture hooks"
+
   describe "When hooking into beforeCapture (CasperJS)" do
 
     it "Executes the global JS before capturing" do
diff --git a/spec/config_spec.rb b/spec/config_spec.rb
index 449ce457..a9473d8e 100644
--- a/spec/config_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/config_spec.rb
@@ -110,13 +110,23 @@
       expect(wraith.snap_file).to include 'lib/wraith/javascript/casper.js'
     end
 
-    it "should allow users to specify their own snap file" do
+    it "should allow users to specify the relative path to their own snap file" do
       config = YAML.load '
         browser:   casperjs
         snap_file: path/to/snap.js
       '
       wraith = Wraith::Wraith.new(config, true)
-      expect(wraith.snap_file).to eq 'path/to/snap.js'
+      # not sure about having code IN the test, but we want to get this right.
+      expect(wraith.snap_file).to eq (`pwd`.chomp! + '/path/to/snap.js')
+    end
+
+    it "should allow users to specify the absolute path to their own snap file" do
+      config = YAML.load '
+        browser:   casperjs
+        snap_file: /Users/my_username/Sites/bbc/wraith/path/to/snap.js
+      '
+      wraith = Wraith::Wraith.new(config, true)
+      expect(wraith.snap_file).to eq ('/Users/my_username/Sites/bbc/wraith/path/to/snap.js')
     end
   end