White Sands, New Mexico
Wakeford was born in 1928 and grew up in south Los Angeles. While finishing up high school, Wakeford apprenticed with fashion photographer Earl Scott. Following his apprenticeship, Wakeford landed a job as a cameraman at The Douglas Aircraft Company. There he was responsible for filming new missiles, planes, and classified weapons tests at White Sands, New Mexico and Edwards Air Force Base becoming one of the early experts in super high speed cinema (5,000 to 8,000 frames per second). Wakeford's work at The Douglas Aircraft Company led him to the United States Army where he spent two years in the Signal Corp. as a motion picture cameraman in New York City and Germany.