css layout problem why doesn't a div with absolute positioning recognize an encapsulating td cell

Question

Hi,

I have the arrangement below. My question is, why won't the first div tag align to the top of the cell, instead it moves down to the top of the image (both ie and firefox etc.)? Absolute positioning will not work as it appears that the div will not recognize the td cell as its parent and instead moves to the top of the document. Is there a way around this?

<td style="width:33%;height:100%; border:solid 1px black; position:relative;">

                        <div style="vertical-align:top;">test</div>

                        <div style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle;padding-bottom:120px; padding-top:30px;">
                            <img src="<%=LastThumb%>" style="vertical-align:middle; border:solid 1px black;" alt="" />
                        </div>
                    </td>